Home, sweet home
by Dragonlord Daoka
Summary: Ash and Co. are back in Kanto, on their way around the Battle Frontier. What will happen while our heroes are beginning to grow up? Read to find out! Rating changed to be safe! Small Update on April 6th, 2007.
1. Chapter 1

1**There's no place like home…**

The night was softly lit by an enchanting full moon, and the silver shine of countless stars. I lay still, listening to the popping of the embers, and various snores coming from my friends. Suddenly, a small tail hit my arm, and turning, I saw Pikachu shifting sleepily, trying to find a more comfortable spot. Grinning, I reached out and stroked his ears a few times, causing him to smile and sigh. As Pikachu began snoring again, I looked back towards the night sky. It felt good to be back in Kanto.

Next morning, I was awakened by the delicious smell of frying eggs. Also bacon, there was definitely bacon involved somewhere. I sat up, stretching and was immediately attacked by a flying ball of yellow and black fur.

"Pika-pi!" (You're awake!)

"G-good m-m-morning, buddy." I yawned

"You're up early, Ash!" Brock's voice came from the vicinity of the fire, from where the yummy smells were also emanating.

"Why so surprised Brock?" I asked, though I knew the answer.

"Well, you usually either sleep till noon, or get a mallet on the head as your wake up call." He answered chuckling. I felt my face flush slightly, then a searing pain in my head.

"Guess what! You get the mallet anyway!" came the voice of my most exasperating (and beautiful) friend. Brock and Max began laughing, but May came to my defense.

"Give him a break, Misty!" she said angrily "He hasn't done anything wrong yet!" _Well_ I thought _at least I've got **one** female who doesn't hit me… wait, what did she mean 'yet'?_

"Aw, come on, May." Misty said with a sidelong glance at me "You know it's just a matter of time until he **does **mess up." I was about to deliver a scathing reply when Brock said

"Break it up you three, or Max and I will eat all the breakfast ourselves!"

"Sounds like a good idea to me Brock!" Max said as they shared an evil smirk.

"That's what you think!" I told them, returning their smirk "Pikachu! Thunderbolt 'em!"

"Pikkaaa…"

"Okay, okay, we'll share!" Max and Brock yelled in unison, cutting Pikachu off and holding plates out for us. As we all loaded our plates with food, and filled our mugs with various beverages, Misty said

"Uh-oh, I think I recognize those three figures up on the cliff. _Son of an Arcanine! _I thought _not those idiots again! _

"You'd think they'd give up after five years of following us around." I told her

"Ha! Not those creeps, they still think they can steal our pokemon."   
Max laughed.

Maybe I should fill you guys in on what's been happening. After May took third in the Grand Festival, and I reached the top four in the Hoenn league, we came back to Kanto to try our luck on the contests here and the Battle Frontier. Stopping at home in Pallet Town, who should be waiting at my house (besides Mom and Mr. Mime) but Misty! Boy was I happy to see her! She doesn't know exactly **how** happy, but that's another story. So now we're all on our way back to Cerulean city, and that's about it. Oh yeah, our ages… Well, I'm now nearly 14, Brock is 17, Misty is 15, May is also 13 and Max is 10 (A/N I think that's how old Max is). As Team Rocket approached, I tensed, 'preparing for trouble' as it were. When they got closer, however; I could see that they weren't in good enough shape to cause trouble even for a Magikarp. When they reached our camp, their faces fell

"Aw, Tauros puckey, it's only the twerps" said Jessie

"Oh, and I was hoping for someone nice, or stupid." James told her. Pikachu began shooting sparks from his cheeks, but Meowth said "Give it a rest will ya? We ain't in the mood for a fight."

"Pika? Pi-pikachu." (What? You must be sick or something.)

"Actually, we've neva felt better, 'cept for the hunger." Meowth replied.

"Say twerps, you wouldn't be willing to share that lovely smelling food with some old friend would you?" asked Jessie, hopefully.

"Why should we? After what you've done to us during our journeys." I asked aggressively.

"For your information, we've decided to break off from the rest of Team Rocket!" James replied, also getting angry.

"Pika! Chu?" (Really! Why?) Pikachu asked, looking surprised.

"Cause we're tired of always blasting off while tryin' to catch ya." Meowth replied.

"Exactly!" Jessie exclaimed "Our plans always fail, so we decided to return to our roots and start over."

"Yes, we figured it would be more fun to travel like you twerps and battle others to be strong and famous." James told us, with a dreamy expression on his face.

"Then how about a battle with me right now?" I challenged him, always ready for a good match.

"Can we have some food first?" James whined "I can't battle on an empty stomach." I turned to the others. Misty and Brock had dubious looks on their faces, as did Max, but May said

"I think we can trust them Ash, they really sound like they mean it." I thought about it for a while. _Well, if they do try anything, I can always kick their butts like usual…_

"Okay" I told them, "Just don't try anything funny. And stop calling us twerps!"

"Yous got it!" Meowth exclaimed digging into his food and smearing egg on his whiskers. Jessie and James were even worse, spilling their milk and dropping crumbs. Brock stood behind them with a disapproving look on his face. When they had finished eating, Brock and Max took the dishes and had Brock's Mudkip use Water Gun on them to get them clean. Stowing them away in our packs, I turned to James,

"So, how 'bout that battle now?" I asked, grinning

"Do I have to?" he asked, turning to me with a pitiable expression on his face.

"Yes." I replied "That's the price of breakfast, remember? I challenged you and you wanted food first. Now you've all eaten, it's time to pay up."

"Okay, okay." James agreed gloomily.

"Hey Ash, I've got a good idea!" Misty told me, an evil smile spreading over her face. "Why don't we have a double battle? You and I versus Team Rocket." I grinned back.

"Sounds good to me? What do you two think?" I asked the former Rockets. Jessie and James exchanged a worried look.

"Come on yous two, this is yer big chance fer payback." Meowth told them encouragingly.

"Well, I guess it would make a good start…" Jessie said, dubiously.

"And we could see what improvements we need to make. Because let's face it, we need a lot of improvement." James said with a faraway look in his eyes. "Alright then, twer- I mean Ash lets go at it!" I looked at Misty and she nodded, still with that wicked grin on her face. _Heck yes! _I thought _a good excuse to be with Misty! Someone up there loves me!_

"Uh… Ash, are you listening to me?" May asked. She seemed to be slightly annoyed that I had – unintentionally - ignored her.

"Huh?" I asked her, still day-dreaming about Misty.

"I was just wishing you good luck, dummy." She replied.

"Oh! Yeah, thanks May." I said, shaking my head to clear it of my favorite day-dream. Lately though, my day-dream had concerned May instead of Misty, which is kind of weird. Maybe I'm just twisted…

"Ash! Are you coming or what?" Misty asked me

"I'm coming, I'm coming." I told her as Max and Brock shared a knowing smirk. I knew what they were thinking of course. That Misty and I act like an old married couple_. How little they know. _I thought, mentally smiling.But enough of that, you guys probably want to get to the battle huh? Alright, here you go…

Misty and I faced Jessie and James across the clearing, after we had cleaned up our camp. Brock stood off to one side, since he is going to judge our battle. May and Max stood behind him and Meowth stood behind his teammates.

"Are you ready?" I called across to the Rockets. I could feel the Misty's tension and excitement, probably because I felt the same way. Are they up to something? Or are they really repentant? In any case, I still get to battle and at Misty's side no less! (Gleeful giggle) Brock stepped forward and began outlining the rules of the match.

"This will be a two on two tag team battle. Each pair of trainers will be allowed two pokemon each. The match will end when one pair of opponents runs out of useable pokemon." He glanced at Jessie and James, and then at Misty and I. "Does everyone agree and understand?" All four of us nodded acceptance

"Then let the battle begin!" He declared, stepping back towards May and Max.

"Hold on a second, you still need to tell us who gets to make the first move!" James told him. Brock looked at me and I nodded.

"Ash says that you two can go first." He told the Rockets.

"Okay then, Cacnea! Come on out!" James said tossing a pokeball and a small cactus like creature popped out, yelling its name.

"Go, Dustox!" said Jessie, releasing a large moth from its pokeball. _Umm, a grass-type and a bug/poison type… Ah-ha! _I thought. Grabbing a ball from my belt, I yelled "Torkoal! I choose you!" and my little red turtle friend came out and a blast of steam issued from his back. Misty picked brought out her lure ball, and tossed it onto the field. "Okay Corsola! You come on out too!" A flash of light later, a little pink piece of coral reef was jumping around next to Torkoal.

"Cacnea! Pin Missile on Torkoal!" James ordered

"Dustox, tackle that little pink gumball!" Jessie told her moth.

"Torkoal, use Iron Defense!" I told it. He disappeared inside his shell and the Pin Missile just bounced off.

"Corsola! Dodge and tackle it right back!" Misty said to her pokemon. Corsola jumped in the air just in time, and landed right on the Dustox flying underneath it. Dustox was slammed to the ground and Corsola jumped off, crying its name triumphantly.

"No, Dustox! Get up!" Jessie pleaded with her pokemon.

"Torkoal, strike back at Cacnea with Flamethrower!" I told him. He cried his name and shot a stream of fire at Cacnea.

"Cacnea, counter it with Sandstorm!" James called to it. It immediately began spinning which caused a small dust devil to form, which diverted Torkoal's attack to either side. Unfortunately for the Rockets, one half of the diverted Flamethrower hit the still dazed Dustox, knocking it out instantly. While on the side of the field, Brock, May and Max narrowly jumped out of the way of the other half of the attack. Jessie rounded on James.

"Watch what you're doing moron!" James flushed with anger.

"How was I supposed to know that would happen?" he yelled back at her. Misty and I shared a smirk and I could hear Brock talking to Max.

"Those two sound like Ash and Misty usually do." Max started laughing, but May scowled at him. I turned back to the battle in time to see Jessie choosing her next pokemon.

"Okay then, go Seviper" and a huge snake came out hissing at Corsola. Meanwhile, Cacnea's Sandstorm had subsided.

"Alright Torkoal, its time to use Overheat!" I commanded him.

"TORKOAL!" he replied, and flames erupted from his mouth as well as the gaps on his shell, heading straight for Cacnea.

"Cacnea, try and dodge it!" James pleaded with his pokemon. But Cacnea just wasn't fast enough. The flames enveloped it, and when they subsided, poor Cacnea was lying on the ground, smoking. "Cacnea, return!" James ordered, and it disappeared. "Okay, then" James said "It's your turn, Chimecho!" and a little wind chime thing came out of the pokeball he had thrown. Next to me, Misty was still going at it.

"Corsola, use Spike Cannon on Seviper!" She told it.

"Seviper, dodge it!" Jessie said. Seviper ducked and the spikes sailed over its head. "Now Seviper! Use Poison Tail on that stupid gumball!" Seviper's tail began glowing purple.

"Come on Corsola, you've gotta dodge it!" Misty shouted. Corsola leapt to one side, but it still got hit and knocked out. "No, Corsola!" Misty yelled "Please, get up!" Corsola struggled feebly, but sank back to the ground unconscious. Misty returned her Corsola, and I patted her on the shoulder.

"Don't worry about it." I told her, giving what I hoped was an encouraging smile. "I **can **handle it myself Ash!" she replied hotly. _Oh here she goes again! _I thought, rolling my eyes.

"I know that! I was trying to be nice for a change!" I shot back "Excuse me for trying to be friendlier." I looked into her eyes and saw the amazement, but then she turned back to the battle. I turned back to the battle just in time to catch Torkoal my stomach. We were both knocked into a tree, and I looked down to see Torkoal at my feet, knocked out.

"What!" I cried, "When did that happen?"

"You should pay better attention Ash!" May and Misty yelled in unison. I felt myself flush. _Girls sure are a pain… _I thought.

"I thought we were battling, twerp!" James laughed "So I attacked, it's not my fault you weren't paying attention!" On the sidelines, Brock and Max were laughing again, and May's scowl was directed at me. _Girls! _I thought again, turning my attention back to the battle. "Alright loser, **now** you've asked for it!" I yelled at James "Corphish! I choose you!" I threw a ball and my other little red friend made his appearance.

"Ha! You think that lobster can beat me?" James asked me mockingly.

"He has before and will again!" I retorted "Corphish, use Bubblebeam on Chimecho!" Corphish's claws began glowing and he shot a stream of bubbles at the wind chime.

"Chimecho, dodge it and use Confusion!" James ordered. It quickly floated out of the way, and its eyes began glowing blue. Corphish was surrounded by a blue light and began levitating.

"Oh no, Corphish!" I cried. At my side, Misty was about to choose her next pokemon.

"You've asked for it too!" she yelled at Jessie. "I choose Gyarados!" But instead of Gyarados, who should pop out but everyone's favorite yellow duck. "Not again Psyduck!" Misty groaned. I silently groaned as well. Seviper hissed at Psyduck, causing it to sweat-drop and hide behind Misty. "Come on Psyduck; get back in your ball." Misty said, holding it out and shaking her head wearily.

"Sorry, Misty but you have to use Psyduck." Brock told her trying to conceal his grin.

"WHAT!" she screeched "Brock, you know he can't battle."

"Sorry, but those are the rules." He replied, though he didn't look all that sorry to me. Misty hung her head. I could tell she was thinking: _I'm doomed! Psyduck can't battle!_ I felt a momentary sense of pity for poor Psyduck, and then turned back to my own battle.

"Chimecho, send Corphish flying!" James ordered. Corphish was sent slamming into a nearby tree, but he jumped right back up shouting his name.

"Way to come back Corphish, now show that thing how a **real **pokemon battles!" I shouted gleefully. "Crabhammer attack!" Corphish's right claw began glowing again as he charged at Chimecho.

"Dodge it Chimecho!" James told it. It moved aside just in time, "Now use Tackle attack!" Chimecho launched itself at Corphish, knocking him to the ground again. "Corphish, you have to get up!" I yelled, worried that I might actually lose to Team Rocket. I mean really! They are **Team Rocket** after all. Corphish was struggling to get back on his... legs? Then Psyduck ran past trying to escape from Seviper. He tripped over Corphish and they both lay there for a moment. A very heart-stopping moment let me tell you! Jessie and James were hugging each other in glee at the thought of finally beating us. "Come on, Corphish!" I begged, "You've gotta get up!" Corphish shoved Psyduck off him.

"Okay Seviper, use Wrap on Psyduck!" Jessie ordered. Seviper lunged at Psyduck and wrapped around it, squeezing it.

"Corphish, use Crabhammer on Chimecho!" I told him. Corphish yelled with rage and his claw began glowing again. He flung himself at Chimecho, who had been watching Seviper and Psyduck.

"Chimecho, look out!" James yelled. Chimecho turned in time to catch the Crabhammer in the face. "Oh no, Chimecho!" Chimecho was slammed to the ground, and lay there with X's over his eyes.

"Chimecho is unable to battle!" Brock declared "Corphish is the winner!" I returned Corphish and thanked him for a good fight. Meanwhile, Psyduck was still stuck in Seviper's coils. For a moment it looked like Psyduck would lose, but then I noticed that his **head** was being squished pretty badly.

"Misty." I said quietly. She rounded on me

"What! Can't you see my Psyduck is in trouble?" she retorted.

"Yes I can, but did you see **where** the Wrap is hitting?" I asked. Misty looked at the struggling yellow duck and then back at me, a grin spreading across her face.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she asked me.

"You know it!" I replied "Let 'em have it!" Misty turned to Psyduckand said "Psyduck, use Confusion!" Psyduck's eyes began glowing blue and Seviper was flung off him into Jessie. She struggled back to her feet and said

"Seviper, get up now!" she told it "That **can't** have finished you already!" Seviper rose back up and hissed at Jessie. "Alright, now get back in there!" She demanded. Seviper charged at Psyduck again, but stopped in it's tracks when Psyduck began glowing brightly. Everyone froze, staring at the white outline that had been Psyduck a few seconds ago. When it faded, there was a much larger, more evil looking blue duck in his place. Misty and I turned to each other.

"I can't believe it!" She exclaimed "My Psyduck evolved into a Golduck!" She leapt at Golduck, hugging it tightly. There was a stunned silence coming from Team Rocket and the others.

"Congratulations, Misty!" I told her. She turned to me and gave me a huge hug too. I felt my face becoming hot, _Oh yeah! _I thought _this is **very** nice!_ When she let go of me I thought _No! Come back to me!_ _Oh well… _Misty turned back to her newly evolved friend and TR.

"What do you think, Golduck?' she asked it "Shall we show them what you can **really** do?" Golduck grinned and agreed. "Okay then, use Psychic!" Misty commanded. Golduck let out an evil cry and Seviper was surrounded by blue light again. This time though, it got bounced up and down a few times, before it was thrown in to Jessie, knocking James down as well.

"Seviper is unable to battle!" Brock declared, finding his voice again "Golduck is the winner!" Misty and I hugged again, making my heart do a few flips. "This battle is over, and the winning couple is Ash and Misty!" _Wait a minute! Did Brock just call us a couple?_ I wondered to myself, then decided to celebrate some more.

"You did great." I whispered in Misty's ear. I could sense her sudden embarrassment.

"Thanks, Ash." She quietly replied "You did well too and… I-I couldn't have done it without you by my side" Now I was **really** blushing! As we broke apart again and turned to the others, I noticed that Brock had a knowing smile on his face. I could see Max talking excitedly to Golduck, but May was nowhere to be seen.

So what do you readers think? Good? Bad? Lame? I want to know! Flames gratefully accepted, since this is a first for me. Thanks for reading!

Dragonlord Daoka

Update 4/6/07: I fixed the formatting errors, and a tiny bit of the dialogue. Also, I wanted to get this back near the top to get more reviews!


	2. On the road again

**On the road again…**

Dinner that night was an awkward experience. For one thing, Team Rocket was still there. Problem number two was that Misty would barely even look at me. Apparently, she was still embarrassed about her little display of affection after our battle. The last, but certainly not least, problem was that May wouldn't even acknowledge mine or Misty's existence. She ate with her back to us, surrounded by her pokemon, all of whom looked worried about her. Skitty was on her lap, and Combusken had its wing on her knee. Squirtle sat at her feet, looking up at her concernedly, but Munchlax just kept on eating. (A/N: Is anyone surprised?)

Max kept throwing anxious looks over at his disconsolate sister. Occasionally, I'd catch him glaring at me, but he always looked away immediately. Misty was sitting on Brock's other side, and Jessie, James and Meowth had built their own fire and were eating some canned food. I knew what was happening, but I have to keep my secret safe. I leaned towards Brock

"What's wrong with May?" I asked him, innocently. He raised one eyebrow at me.

"Don't tell me you really don't know." He said exasperatedly. You know, sometimes I don't give Brock enough credit. Ever since the Orange Islands, and the adventure with Lugia, I've been unusually smart about life, the universe and everything. I'm sure it came from when Lugia and I were rushing back towards Slowking and the others. There were a few minutes when our minds had merged somehow and it gave me advanced insight and intellect. With the improvement came the realization that I should continue acting like I always had; whiny, annoying, and fairly dumb. Frankly, I'm getting sick of hiding it. I want my friends to find out who I **really** am, instead of them getting annoyed at me so much. I decided then and there to let Brock in on the secret.

"Yes, actually I do." He looked surprised, and Pikachu jumped up from his food. I had of course, confided in Pikachu much earlier, almost directly after we left the islands of Fire, Ice, and Lightening.

"Pika-pi?" (You're finally telling them?) I nodded and he began dancing around me.

"Pika, pika, chuuu!" he said with in a singsong voice. (Ash is actually smart, and no one knew but me!) Brock watched him, looking shocked. He turned slowly, staring at me with a horrified expression.

"Yup" I told him "It all happened…" I proceeded to explain everything to him quietly. He looked puzzled, and then awed.

"So you're practically a genius now?" He asked.

"Well, I wouldn't put it that way." I said feeling a little embarrassed. Brock had a mixture of awe and fear on his face.

"What's wrong?" I asked him

"Well, it's just that… I must seem so stupid to you, with my girl obsession." He muttered, embarrassed.

"No, not really" I told him truthfully "Actually, I find it kind of amusing." He flushed and momentarily looked away from me. While Brock was letting my obviously shocking revelation sink in, I looked towards Misty, who was laughing at her little Azurill. It was bounding in circles, chasing its own ball-like tail. She saw me looking, and I guess I had a strange expression on my face, because she grinned at me sheepishly and turned back to her Azurill, who was now nibbling at its bowl of food. Then I looked over at May, who had apparently witnessed our little exchange, and had a stony expression on her face. She looked (dare I say it?) like a Geodude… ette. I repeated my thoughts to Pikachu and Brock, who both burst out laughing. Max came over; wanting to know what was so funny. Brock told him what I had said about May, and he looked first at me, then at his sister.

"I hate to say this about her, when she's so depressed, but I think your right." He told me. "Although, I'm sure you know this, but **you're** the cause of her bad mood." I nodded. Brock looked puzzled

"Max, how did you know Ash would understand?" Max looked at me, and an invisible beam of understanding passed between us.

"He already knew as well." I told Brock, smiling at Max "We 'geniuses' can distinguish each other quite easily." He looked baffled

"How can you?" he asked us.

"It's easy" Max told him "You could be one too, if you weren't so girl-hungry." Brock thought about this for a while.

"That's okay" he replied grinning "I'd rather leave the genius-work to you guys."

We all stood up and went to wash our dishes in the nearby stream. Misty came over to as well and Brock gave me a wink, taking Max back towards our fire. We both bent over the stream, scrubbing our plates and cups, when I decided to make the first move.

"Hey, Mist" I said, as though I had just realized she was there. She jumped and I could faintly see a blush climbing her cheeks. She quickly recovered, and hit me with her mallet.

"Don't scare me like that, Ash!" she reprimanded me.

"Oh like you didn't already know I was here!" I retorted. "If you don't want me around..."

"NO!" she exclaimed "I mean, yes, I- oh, I don't know what I mean!" This was fascinating; I'd never seen her so flustered. Then, since I had already revealed it to Brock, I decided to spill the beans on myself.

"Don't worry, Mist" I told her "Even if you don't know what you mean, **I **do." She looked up at me, the same mix of fear and awe on her face as Brock had. I went on to explain what had happened with Lugia, and all the rest. It took Misty even longer to digest all of it than it had for Brock.

"So you're saying, that ever since the Lugia adventure, you've only been pretending to be annoying?" I nodded slowly. Misty began to tremble, looking fearful. "So, you could probably see through my poor cover-up?"

"Which cover-up is that?" I asked, teasing her now.

"Hey, you're the one who told me that you're a genius now!" she raged "Don't tell me you don't know!"

"Okay I won't tell you that." I replied, grinning. _I just want to hear you say it..._ I thought. I got the mallet in the head again for my flippant remark.

"Look you-" Misty yelled.

"What's all the yelling about twerps?" asked an annoyed female voice. Misty and I whipped around to see Jessie at a bend in the stream a few feet away, washing her hands and face. Misty and I looked at each other and blushed.

"None of your business!" we chorused. She just stood there, and then said

"Oh, I see, you were having a moment."

"We were not!" Misty exclaimed.

"Oh really?" James came up next to Jessie "Then why are your faces redder than Jessie's hair?" The Rockets smirked and shared a high-five. Fortunately, Pikachu decided to come over at that precise moment.

"Pikachu?" (Should I chase them off, Ash?) He asked me. I nodded gratefully and he began growling at Jessie and James, shooting sparks from his pouches. They took one look at him, and took off back to their camp, laughing uproariously. I bent down and scratched Pikachu between the ears.

"Thanks buddy"

"Chu, pika-pi?" (No problem, where's Misty going?) I turned quickly to see her heading back to the fire. _ Darn it! _I thought _just when I was really making progress…_

I also started back to the fire, but stopped when I saw May coming towards me. Pikachu looked back at me, and then decided to let me handle it. May was concentrating on the grass below her feet, and had her dirty dishes in hand. As she approached me, she noticed my shoes and looked up at me. I saw with a jolt of alarm that her eyes were red. May had been crying! _Uh-oh, I didn't think it had gone **this** far! _I thought _I'd better do something about it…_

"Uh, May?" I said, tentatively

"What?" She asked shortly. I took a deep breath and continued

"Look, I'm sorry if I did or said anything to upset you." I apologized. Her eyes widened in surprise. "I realize that my relationship with Misty makes you kind of jealous…"

"You think I'm jealous!" she asked me, incredulously. "What gives you that stupid idea?" I sighed, _here we go again_. I proceeded to tell her everything that I had told the others. Her eyes were wide, and I could see tears brimming again. Then she completely broke down. "Y-you're r-r-right!" she wailed, as the tears began streaming down her face. For the first time since my mind-meld with Lugia, I had no idea what to do. So I opened my arms and she flung herself at me. I held her for a while, trying to calm her down, while attempting to control the chaos of my teenage hormones. I couldn't understand it, not even the logic I had gained could tell me why I felt this way about Misty **and** May. I'd tried to just focus on one of them, but I would always be drawn back to the other. Chaos is the only word I can use to describe my emotions right then. Why had the Legendaries cursed me with feelings for **both** of them? WHY!? When May's storm of weeping had subsided, she withdrew slightly, just enough for me to be able to see her face. _Her **beautiful **face _I thought. "I'm s-sorry, Ash." She told me "I d-didn't mean to b-break down like that."

"It's understandable" I replied "I haven't exactly been sensitive the past day or so."

"Y-you like Misty don't you?" She asked, timidly

"Well… yes." I admitted and May started crying again. I hesitated then said "But… I like you too." She looked up at me, the old sparkle returning to her eyes. "I've tried to decide which of you to go for, but I **can't**, I don't know why but when I try to give up on one of you…" I trailed off, staring at the stream. I watched a Quagsire float lazily by, and a few Magikarp jumping at the bugs hovering over the water.

"You know, Ash" May said quietly "I like you too." I returned my gaze to her tear-stained face. "I've liked you ever since you helped me choose my little Torchic."

I drew her in for another hug, and saw, over her shoulder that everyone was in their sleeping bags. Thankfully, Misty had her back turned to us, but Max was facing us. I gave him a thumbs up behind May's back and he winked in return.

"Well, now that everyone knows about my little secret" I told her softly "I wonder if it will change the relationships I have with you all."

"It doesn't change my feelings for you." She replied, just as softly "Actually, I think it might have deepened them." I looked into her eyes, still shining with tears, and smiled gently. She closed her eyes and leaned closer. _Well… ok_ I thought, and kissed her full on the lips. It was a wonderful feeling! My mind was whirling and my heart was on a roller coaster. I'm not sure how long we stayed glued together, but it seemed like an eternity. When we finally broke apart, we stood there looking into each other's eyes, and then headed back to camp, hand in hand.

The next morning, I was shockingly woken up. When the jolt ended, I glared over at Pikachu, who was giving me an innocently concerned look. "Don't give me that look!" I yelled "I invented that look!" I sprang from my blankets, only to feel my head collide with something hard. I heard a screech of pain from behind me, and turned to see Misty on the ground, rubbing her cheek. I couldn't stop myself from laughing. "Well, that's what you get for trying to sneak up on me." I told her, my head throbbing.

"Yeah, laugh while you can **genius**." She retorted, her face flaming. She pulled out her mallet and advanced menacingly. She swung at my head, but I ducked, backing away. She swung again but this time I caught her arm and, twirling her around drew her into my arms. "LET ME GO!" She demanded

"Aw, come on." I teased her "You can't tell me you aren't secretly enjoying this." She calmed down a bit

"Okay, I won't tell you that." She retorted, throwing my words of the night before back in my teeth. _So that's how you want to play, is it? _I thought to myself.

"Well" I sighed "If you're not going to tell me willingly, I'll just have to **tickle** it out of you!" I began tickling her sides and she squirmed, trying to break loose. The whole time this was happening, May, Max and Brock were all rolling around laughing, and Jessie and James were shaking their heads in amusement. Misty was still struggling to get loose, tears of laughter streaming down her face, when I was blasted away from her by a jet of water. Brock sat up

"Looks like Azurill learned Water Gun." He observed placidly. Misty's laughter was even louder now, as she hugged her Azurill.

"Thanks, Azurill." She told it.

"Azu, azu!" (You're welcome, Mommy!) It replied "Azurill-azu?" (Why was Daddy being mean to you?) Misty looked first shocked, then embarrassed. I looked at Azurill

"Did you just call me what I thought you called me?" I asked it. Azurill was about to answer, but Misty covered its mouth with her hand.

"Pika-pi, chu" (It called you Daddy, I heard it.) Pikachu answered for it. Misty glared at Pikachu "You're gonna get it now you little rat." Pikachu ran to hide behind my legs, while Brock, Max and May were laughing again.

"Don't look at me" I told him "I've already endured enough punishment today."

"Pika? Pika-CHU!" (Really? Don't count on it!) He retorted zapping me again.

"Now you've **really** done it!" I told him, and then looked over at Misty "Can I borrow that?" I asked, pointing at her mallet.

"By all means!" she replied, smirking at Pikachu. He sweat-dropped and started backing away from me as I advanced on him, the mallet raised to strike. He kept backing away, and accidentally crashed into Meowth, who was coming to see what the noise was about. "Would ya watch where yer goin'!?" He demanded angrily

"Pikachu." (Sorry, about that.) Pikachu apologized.

"That's okay" Meowth told him, in conciliatory tone "I'm just in a bad mood from them losers." And he pointed at Jessie and James. My curiosity and suspicion aroused I asked "Why, are they up to something?"

"Nah, theys just bein all lovey-dovey." He replied in a disgusted tone. I looked to Misty and May and the guys "You know" said May slyly "I've always thought they were a good couple." We all laughed at the expression on Meowth's face.

"It makes me sick!" he yelled in the direction of his two friends. We all looked over too, and saw that they had their arms around each other, talking softly and staring into the dancing fire in front of them. _Mmmm... _I thought _this could be fun..._

"Hey Meowth?"

"What." He asked shortly.

"Well, how would like to play a trick on them?" I asked mischievously

"You knows it!" He exclaimed, grinning wickedly. I bent and said

"Okay, here's what you do..." And I whispered some instructions to him; he grinned even wider and nodded his approval.


	3. Pranks and Pewter

**Pranks and Pewter**

Meowth snuck back over to the TR camp, and grabbed two of their shovels. Then he ran back over to us and handed me one of the shovels. We crept over towards the stream and began digging. After about half an hour, we finished covering the pitfall we had made for Jessie and James, and Meowth took the shovels back to his camp. I bent to wash my hands in the stream, and was just washing my face, when something hit my rear end and propelled me face first into the water. I came up spluttering to see Misty doubled over laughing, her mallet in her fist. "Oh you're get it now!" I roared, charging at her. She jumped back from me and swung her mallet again. _She just doesn't learn very fast does she? _I thought. I caught it right before it hit my arm and dragged her towards me again. Only this time, instead of grabbing and tickling her, I dragged her into the stream with me! Now our positions were reversed, with me laughing uproariously, and her spluttering.

"Nice payback there twerp!" Meowth told me, appearing beside me.

"Thanks" I replied "Are you ready for yours?"

"You knows it!" He smirked

"Then let's get started" I said "Call them over."

"Okey-dokey!" he replied "Hey, yous two!" He yelled over at Jessie and James. They ignored him.

"You might wanna go over and get them." I suggested. He ran to do so, and I felt a sharp pain on the top of my head. I quickly reached up and caught Misty's mallet for the third time that day. I turned to her, smirking "You just don't learn do you?"

"Would you rather I had Azurill hit you with Water Gun again?" She asked me snidely

"Sure" I replied, unconcerned "Then I'll just have Pikachu hit you with Thunderbolt." Misty sweat-dropped, but Pikachu said

"Pikachu!" (I wouldn't do that to her if you paid me!)

"Traitor!" I cried, yanking Misty's mallet from her and advancing on him.

"Chu, pika!" (I never said anything about doing it to you!) He replied, shooting sparks from his cheeks. I hastily handed the mallet back to Misty. "Okay, you guys win." I told them. They exchanged an evil grin and I again got the mallet on top of my head, **and **Thunderbolted! As I lay on the ground twitching, Pikachu ran back to camp at the sound of a ketchup bottle opening. _Thanks, Brock_ I thought, relieved. I slowly got to my feet, wincing. Misty took a step towards me "Are you okay, Ash?" She asked with a worried note in her voice. I gave her a weak smile "I've been better."

"You **did** deserve it you know." She told me.

"Yeah, I know" I grinned again "That was some payback though, you hit me harder than usual." Misty grinned back. Then we both heard the sounds of Team Rocket heading towards us. "What's so important, Meowth?" Jessie asked her cat-like friend irritably. "Yes, that's what I'd like to know too." James agreed, also sounding irritable.

"I thought I saw a rare Water pokemon in da stream." he replied, winking at me.

"Really?" The other two and Misty chorused "Where?"

"It was somewheres over here." he told them, running across the top of the pitfall as quick as he could. Jessie, James and Misty began following him. I lunged forward to stop Misty, but it was too late. Jessie and James yelled Meowth's name angrily as they fell. Misty called out to me, and I caught her arm but was unfortunately dragged into the pit after her. I quickly spun myself under her so as to cushion her fall. As I landed, I found that my arms were wrapped around Misty's waist, and her face on my shoulder.

"Misty!" I cried "Are you okay?" She stirred feebly

"I-I think so." She replied. I sighed with relief and looked over to where Team Rocket had, oddly enough, found themselves in the same predicament. They however, had reacted differently. They seemed to have figured that since Meowth had done this to them for hugging, they'd make him more sick by making out. "You think they could wait 'til their somewhere private." Misty laughed. _Here goes... _I thought.

"Say that gives me an idea." I told her, giving her my best smile. "Does it?" she asked innocently, playing along "What idea would that be?"

"This one!" I replied and, dragged her head forward so that our lips met. Now, I know I said that kissing May was a wonderful feeling, but that was nothing compared to kissing Misty! This was heaven and I felt completed at last! If my heart and mind had been whirling with May, they were absolute chaos now! I had been waiting for this moment for three years now. After what seemed like an eternity of bliss, we regretfully broke apart. We lay there staring at each other and I as I found her beautiful aquamarine eyes, I could see the love and intensity I'd missed during my 'moment' with May. Speaking of...

"Ash! Misty! Are you guys alright?" Brock was yelling from the edge of the pit. I saw Max laughing with Meowth, but May was looking at Misty and I with an unreadable expression on her face. Misty had noticed it too.

"Do you think she saw us?" she asked me anxiously.

"I'm sure of it." I told her, a little nervous myself. May stomped away from the pit muttering to herself. I looked back at Misty, feeling guilty.

"What's she so worked up about?" Misty asked me. I sighed again, this time in anticipation of a major explosion.

"Well, last night, after you went back to camp..." I told her all about it, the kiss, everything. I could see the hurt and anger in her soul-piercing eyes, and braced myself "Before you get all indignant on me, I've thought it through… and I've decided that I want to be with **you, **Misty." Her expression softened, and she lowered her hand that had been about to smack me, and then, surprisingly, she giggled.

"I've been waiting three and a half years to hear that from you." She told me, the love and affection returning to her face. "Now... I just can't believe it!" She laughed again, a relieved kind of laugh. "Even after you and May... last night... and all the mean things I've said and done to you..." I cut her off by kissing her again, and experienced paradise for the second time that day. We broke apart, and I saw that May had returned to the edge of the pit and was looking down at us, not with anger or hatred, but with a martyred expression. Max was standing next to her, his hand on her shoulder, and Brock was grinning.

"Well **finally!**" He told us, with mock exasperation "I thought you two would **never** get to the point!" Misty and I looked at each other, then at everyone else. Even the reformed Rockets were grinning at us stupidly. I looked back at Misty, who was still lying on top of me.

"Well, since everyone seems to have been waiting for this... Misty Waterflower... I love you!" I told her "I told May that I 'like' you, but after thinking about it all last night, I knew it goes deeper than that. And even using the word love can't begin to describe the way I feel about you..." I was interrupted by her lips meeting mine once again. After breaking apart for the third time she softly told me

"I love you too, Ash Ketchum." she sighed "I have since almost the day I met you." I smiled at her and hugged her close, intending to never let go again. The Rockets left after cleaning up their camp, saying that they were going to visit James' old house.

Later that day, we arrived in Brock's hometown of Pewter and headed for the gym, since that's where he lives. I had Pikachu on my shoulder as usual, and I had a tight hold on Misty's hand. As we approached the gym, Brock was attacked by his family and old Pokemon. As he was dragged inside by his siblings, Geodude and Onix, his dad came up to the rest of us.

"Hello, Mr. Flint." I greeted him.

"Hey there, Ash" He replied, grinning at Misty and I "Brock kept telling me you two were going to become like that." He said, nodding to our intertwined fingers.

"It's nice to keep these things private." Misty said, rolling her eyes. Max snorted

"Private? Ha, like that was ever gonna happen." May smacked his shoulder and told him to be nice. "Why should I?" He retorted "After what **he's** done to you." Max glared at me. May sighed and said

"Just leave it alone, Max, I've already told you I'm over it."

"Oh, you're okay that Ash would kiss you and hold you, but within 24 hours, turns around and starts making out with Misty?" he yelled at her. May turned pale and burst into tears again. She ran inside to the restroom and slammed the door.

"Way to go Max!" I told him angrily

"Like you have room to talk!" He retorted "You're the one who betrayed her after she admitted her feelings for you." He stomped away after his sister.

"Well, Ashy boy, you seem to have landed yourself in a fix." A familiar voice called. I turned around to find Gary Oak coming up the road.

"Hey Gary" I replied, grimly "And, yes I do seem to be in trouble don't I?" He looked surprised.

"When did you start using big words?" he asked, so I explained about my mind-meld with Lugia to him. "So that's how you were good enough to beat me in the Silver Conference." He said thoughtfully. I grinned at him. "So what was all the fuss about with May?" he asked, a little too casually. I held up my hand which was still wrapped around Misty's. "Ah, I see…" he said "So you were being nice, and got carried away, when you **really** love Misty…" Misty and I looked at each other, beaming. I said

"That's right I **love** Misty!" She blushed and said

"Come here, you!" We began making out again, but were interrupted by Gary pretending to vomit, and the sound of something crashing inside the gym. Looking up, I saw May and the hole in the wall next to her. I guess she wasn't taking this as well as I had thought. Gary was looking speculative and I asked him and Misty to excuse me for a minute. Misty looked reluctant to let go of me, but I said "I'll be back soon; I've just got something to take care of." She nodded her understanding and quickly kissed my cheek. I steeled myself and marched over to May. She watched me approach with narrowed eyes. I drew in a deep breath and said "May, can I talk to you for a minute?" she flared up

"Why should I even **think** of talking to you alone after what you did the last time I confided in you?" I looked her directly in the eye and told her

"I know I shouldn't have done what I did with you, then turned around and done the same thing, but more serious with Misty." She turned away from me, her whole body quivering in anger. "But I'm only sorry that I got that far with you, and gave you a false hope and idea." I told her sadly "May… I do like you, but it's only an adolescent thing. Misty and I go deeper; we are connected in ways that only Ho-oh knows." She turned to me, tears streaming down her face once more.

"I bared my soul to you Ash! I let you see my weakness and caring, and you rejected me!" The guilt felt like a million Twinneedle attacks, but still… "I gave you my **first** kiss and you treat it like it was nothing!" May continued, raging now. I put my hand on her shoulder and gazed deep into her eyes, saying

"I know I treated you badly, but I still want to be your friend, so I'm begging you to forgive my insensitivity and let you know that you can hit me or do whatever else you want to me." She looked at me, her eyes red, and gave me a one-two combo right to the face. It hurt more than Misty's mallet! I felt the blood flowing from my nostrils and asked her

"Are you done?" She started crying again and ran back into the bathroom. Misty ran up and began mopping the blood from my face with a towel.

"Are you okay, Ash?" she asked me "Why did May hit you?" I smiled at her. "Yes, I'm fine, and because I told her to as payback." She continued wiping my face off and Gary sauntered over. "She's got quite an arm." I observed dryly to them. I looked over at Gary who was staring at the bathroom door, through which we could hear May's continued sobs.

"You know" I told him surreptitiously "She's gonna need a good **friend** when she's done…" He whipped around, beginning to blush.

"What are you implying, there Ash?" He asked menacingly

"Oh, just that I happened to see your face during my welcome home party." I told him nonchalantly "You couldn't stop staring at her the whole what was it?" I asked, turning to Misty, she grinned wickedly

"Oh I'd say about three hours!" She giggled, taking the towel to a basket next to the bathroom door. May's sobbing seemed to have stopped and I could hear the sink running. I quickly gestured to Misty, who seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"Let's go see if Brock's got lunch ready yet." I told her, she hastily agreed and we headed for the dining room as quick as we could. Just before entering, I turned back and called "Good luck!" to a still furiously red Gary.

Upon reaching the table, I was jumped from behind by two little rodents. Pikachu and Azurill jumped had been hiding on top of the bookshelves next to the door, waiting for me. I just knew that Misty had put them up to it; I just endured, thinking that I could get her back later. I caught a whiff of Brock's special recipe stew and began drooling. My two assailants jumped off, and Pikachu started slurping ketchup while Azurill began batting his tail back and forth. I heard a door shut down the hall, and peeked around the side of the dining room entrance, to see May and Gary talking quietly. They both seemed kind of awkward and embarrassed. _You go Gary! _I thought _cover my sorry butt!_

"Hey Ash, what's going on?" came a whisper from behind me. I moved back into the kitchen and waved Misty forward, so that she could see May and Gary. She leaned slightly – offering an interesting view – then pulled back quickly giggling again.

"They make a good couple don't they?" I asked her. She gave me a smoldering look and replied

"I know where to find a better couple!" I pretended ignorance.

"Which coup-" I began, but was cut off by her giving me another kiss. Just when things were getting serious, Brock came in and nearly dropped the pot he was carrying. "Get a room you two!" He told us, in mock seriousness. Misty got a sly look and asked him

"Is that an order?" Brock began turning redder than Gary had been and I laughed until it hurt.

"You know very well that it was not!" Brock yelled, still red as my Corphish "Or at least wait until next Tuesday!" he told us.

"Why?" I asked him, confused "Oh yeah! It's Single's Awareness Day." I turned back to Misty, with a huge grin "But now I get to celebrate Valentine's Day for real!" She smiled back, vaguely.

Dinner that night had a tense atmosphere. Misty and I sat next to each other, exchanging jokes, glances and occasionally poking each other in the side. Brock sat at the head of the table, and his Dad sat at the other end. His other siblings were in the battlefield part of the gym, eating and playing with the pokemon. May and Gary sat on the other side of the table, occasionally looking up at Misty and I, or talking quietly. As we ate our way through the three courses of salad, stew and dessert, I would catch May glaring over at me. Gary would look at me once in a while too, but he just grinned and nodded. I could tell he was thanking me. But for breaking May's heart? I guess he likes her more than I thought he did. As we finished the Devil's food cake, I offered to help clean up. Brock seemed surprised

"But you usually leave the dishes for Misty and I... oh, I get it now, okay." I winked at him as Gary and May disappeared towards the battlefield to join the kids and pokemon. Misty and I proceeded to carry the dishes into the kitchen while Brock and his dad followed May and Gary to the battlefield. I began piling the dishes into the washer, and when it became full, I filled the sink with water to wash the remaining ones. Misty came and went, cleaning up the food and wiping down the table. As I began cleaning the dishes by hand, she came up beside me, kissing my cheek and saying

"You look cute when you're cleaning." I turned to her, wet rag in one hand and a cup in the other. "Like this?" I asked, and did my pose "I washed the dishes!" I said, in mock pride. She doubled over laughing, then drew me in for a hug. As we held each other tightly, I felt her reaching for something, but was enjoying her closeness to much to be suspicious. I paid for that lapse in concentration with a cup of soapy water on my head. "I'm gonna get you for that!" I roared playfully and, backing away swiftly, managed to get my own glass in the sink to fill. She cringed away, dodging the water, which provided a better opportunity. I grabbed my rag in both hands and...

"Don't you dare, Ash Ketchum!" she screeched, lunging closer so that my rag whip was foiled. I dipped my cup in the water again, and was preparing to toss the water at her, when she tackled me. We crashed onto the floor, and the water from my cup soaked us both. We lay there for a while, laughing and tickling each other. Pikachu came in, to see what the noise was about, and started fake gagging. Misty grinned at me and said "Let's see what he does when..." I caught on and interrupted her with a kiss. We did that for a while, until Pikachu ran out with his paws over his mouth. Not before zapping us of course. Misty and I lay gasping, recovering from the Thunderbolt attack. I crawled over to her and asked

"Misty? Are you alright?" She grinned weakly and said,

"Yeah, I've been better though." I took her hand and pulled her over to me. We started to kiss some more and just as things were getting serious once again, Brock came in, having been guided by Pikachu. Misty and I broke apart quickly, embarrassed that we had been caught in such an awkward position.

"If you guys are gonna do that, please wait until your old enough and married!" Brock told us sternly. We blushed and exchanged a disconcerted glance.

"We're sorry, Brock." We said to together

"You're right, we should wait" I said, looking at Misty, she nodded.

"Yeah, I guess I just got... carried away." She apologized. Brock smiled at us

"I know what you mean, unless you guys have forgotten to whom your talking." Misty and I laughed again.

"Yup, you of all people should understand the difficulty of hormones." I told him. He turned slightly red and coughed.

"That reminds me" said Misty "Have you called Naomi yet?" Brock nodded enthusiastically I turned to Misty, slightly confused

"Who's Naomi?" Then I remembered "Oh yeah, she's the Marine Biologist in the Whirl Islands."

"Yup, that's her!" Brock confirmed "After we separated when before you left for Hoenn, I got home and found that I had a few new emails since checking it in the Viridian Pokemon Center."

"And one was from her?" I asked shrewdly. He nodded happily,

"We started emailing back and forth, and eventually met again at Vermilion city when she came here by boat."

"I thought she was a little warm in her farewell when he first met her..." I said thinking back. That was when I got to see Lapras again. When Brock told her

"See you later!" she had replied

"It's a deal, Brock!"

"Well, it looks like we're all finding the 'One'." Misty said, looking at me warmly

"Or at least admitting to them." I reminded her "You know, I **did **hear your song that night." She looked terrified

"You heard my song to you? But you acted like..." she trailed off "You **were** just acting then, because that was after the Orange Islands thing..." I nodded and smiled.

"I wanted so badly to answer you back, but I just couldn't, because I was also afraid." I told her seriously, taking her hand. I turned back to Brock. "So what did you talk to Naomi about?" He blushed again

"She's going to meet us in Cerulean city in a week."

"Next Tuesday? But that's..." I broke off, grinning at him "It's because of Valentine's Day right?" He turned maroon now, and smiled sheepishly. Misty turned to me with a bright expression

"Oh, let's help him!" she said "We can go on a double date with them!" I thought about it for a minute.

"Okay, sounds good to me." I replied, winking at Brock "Let's plan this out now, just to be safe." So the three of us sat at the table, making plans for Brock and Naomi to have time together on Valentine's Day. Afterwards, we all headed off for bed. I would be sharing a room with Gary and Max. Brock's room was next to our's and Misty and May were sharing his sister's room. I could hear Max snoring from across the room, but I could tell that Gary was still awake.

"Hey Ash?" came a whisper from the top bunk, where he was.

"What?" I asked sleepily. I had been just about to fall asleep too!

"I was wondering..." he faltered

"Is this about May?" I asked, awake now. His head appeared above mine and he was grinning "You **are** smart now aren't you?" he asked.

"Just remember that **you're **the one who said it!" I told him grinning back. He laughed quietly.

"Are you guys going to Cerulean next?" he asked "Because I was thinking of asking her out for Valentine's." I smiled at him and replied

"Yup, that's where we're headed. What did you two talk about before and at dinner? If it's not too private that is."

"Well, I kind of comforted her about what you did, and then we discussed your failings... since there are so many… then we got into each other, you know, our goals and dreams."

"Did you talk about contests and research?"

"Yes, and I told her that I could help her find ways to improve her appeals with my research."

"You seem to have hit it off pretty well then." I told him approvingly "If you want to travel with us to Cerulean city, you're more than welcome. You could continue your campaign on the way, and conclude with Valentine's Day."

"That was more or less the idea." He told me grinning "Will you and Misty help me?"

"Sure, we're gonna help Brock too, so we'll make it a triple date, rather than a double." I told him "May would be glad to have a distraction, and I think you two will be good together."

"Thanks, Ashy boy, you are awesome." He replied "I have to say that you and Misty are good together."

"You don't know the half of it!" I smirked, thinking about how close we had come to making a mistake. "Well, good night, Gary. We'll probably leave after breakfast tomorrow."

"That hasn't changed!" he laughed again and went back to his pillow. After a few minutes, I fell asleep, dreaming of my favorite red-haired girl.


	4. Mount Moon: Operation Luvdisc

**Mount Moon: Operation Luvdisc**

The next day, I woke up to find that Max, Pikachu and Gary were already gone. I yawned and stretched, rubbing my eyes. When I opened them again, I saw a mane of bright red hair. Misty had come in and was sitting on my bed. I sat there for a minute, staring at her. She hadn't done up her ponytail yet, and her hair was falling in a bright cascade to her shoulders.

"Hello? Earth to Ash!" She said laughing and waving her hand in front of my face.

"Sorry!" I told her, shaking my head a little "I was just admiring the view." She giggled and poked me. I grabbed her and began tickling her sides. May came in then and said,

"Breakfast time, lovebirds!" I looked up surprised. May was smiling at us and I couldn't help asking

"You're not mad anymore?" She shook her head, and grinned at Misty "Misty and I had a long talk last night…" I laughed in relief

"So everything's cool now?" I asked her, she grinned and nodded, then left for the dining room. I resumed tickling Misty until she squealed "Uncle!" I stopped tickling her and drew her in for a hug, and she kissed my cheek.

"Come on, let's go for breakfast." She said. I held her back "Hang on a sec, I wanted to tell you about the talk Gary and I had last night." I proceeded to fill her in on his plans for May and she giggled

"They'd be so cute together!"

"So we'll make it a triple date on Valentine's. And let's see if we can get them lost in Mount Moon too." I told her, she smirked and squeezed my hand

"Sounds good to me!" She said "I'll meet you at breakfast." She winked and departed. I tugged my shoes on and settled my hat over my messy hair. As I turned to make the bed, I heard running paws and was tackled from behind by my best friend. "Pika! Chu-pika!" (Come on! Everyone's waiting for you and there's ketchup!) I reached around and grabbed him up,

"Alrighty, then!" I said loudly "Let's go!" I grabbed my backpack and we raced out of the room.

I skidded to a halt in the door of the dining room. Everyone was there, eating and laughing and talking. Misty was feeding Azurill a few pieces of Pokemon food, and Pikachu was sitting near them, happily slurping down a bottle of ketchup. Gary, May and Max were all animatedly discussing Gary's research and Brock was clearing his place, having finished already. I sat in the vacant chair next to Misty and began heaping eggs and pancakes onto my plate. She leaned over and filled my glass with milk. I smiled at her and quickly kissed her cheek in thanks. She gave a yelp

"Your lips are all sticky!" She scolded me.

"Sorry, Mist" I said through a mouthful of egg yolk "I forgot." She wiped her cheek with a corner of her napkin she had dipped in her leftover cereal milk. So I kissed her cheek again! This time she poked me hard in the ribs and made me spit my eggs back onto my plate. Misty and May both made noises of disgust, but Gary and Max just laughed at me.

"Make fun of me will you?" I asked threateningly "Then prepare to face the consequences!" I loaded my spoon with soggy eggs and catapulted them at Gary. They hit him in the face and he retaliated by squirting grapefruit juice at me. I covered my eyes in time, but got my arms and gloves wet. I sent another spoonful of soggy breakfast at him, but he ducked this one and it hit Max, who was walking behind him. It splattered his glasses and made him drop the bowl he had been carrying. Luckily it didn't break when it hit the floor. He scooped out what remained of his oatmeal and propelled it at me with his spoon. Misty, May, Brock and the Pokemon had all fled the room, so as not to get caught up in our little food fight. I blocked the flying oatmeal with my now clean plate and ran to the kitchen to put it in the sink. While doing so, I noticed that Brock had left milk in his bowl, so I grabbed it and snuck back to the dining room. I peeked in, and saw that Gary and Max had left. Or had they? I snuck in slowly and… "BOO!" came a shout from behind. I jumped and accidentally threw the bowl. It flew up in the air and landed on Gary's head, he being the one who had scared me. I started laughing so hard that my sides hurt.

"That one backfired didn't it?" I asked him, smirking. He glared at me and retorted

"You may have won the battle, Ashy boy, but you won't win the war!" He stomped out, dripping milk onto the floor.

I went to the bathroom to wash my arms, and found Misty bent over the sink, washing her face. I snuck up and pinched her behind. She whipped back in surprise, hitting me in the face with her wet hair. "You pervert!" She screeched, drawing back her hand for a slap.

"But it's so cute! I couldn't help it!" I protested in mock innocence.

"I'll get you back for that!" She replied, swinging her head so that her hair whipped me again. She left to gather her things from the room she had used. I hurriedly scrubbed my arms and face to get off all the leftovers from the food fight. I was drying my face when I felt a sharp pain in **my** behind!

"Vengeance is mine!" Misty cried, laughing hysterically and running back to the dining room. I shook my head, chuckling and thinking, _I'll get her for that!_

When we had all gathered at the entrance to the gym, Brock gave his dad a sheet of paper listing all the errands there were still to do.

"Don't worry about it, son." Flint told him "I've nearly got this down as well as you do." Brock smiled.

"Yeah I know, Dad." They hugged briefly and we started on our way, heading for the distant Mount Moon and Cerulean City. I turned to Misty as a thought occurred to me

"Hey Mist?" I said softly

"Hmm?" she asked, preoccupied with Azurill

"What are you're sisters gonna say when they find out about us?" I asked her. This jerked her back to reality. She thought for a moment then replied

"I don't know... but I don't care either!" she gave me another smoldering look and I grinned back, feeling my cheeks begin to burn. "I'm completely and blissfully happy for the first time in my life, and I **won't **let those shallow whores ruin it for me!" Now my face was **really** red. We're talkin' the color of Groudon!

"So am I." I told her, taking her hand in mine "I'm not worried about my mom; she'll just tell us that it was about time, like everyone else has." We shared a brief kiss, but broke apart at the combined sounds of May giggling, and Pikachu retching. I looked at my little yellow friend in mock concern. "Are you okay, Pikachu?"

"Pikachu-pi." (No, you and Misty are making me sick.)

"Oh really, in that case…" I grabbed Misty and we were about to start kissing again, but Pikachu stopped us with a Thunderbolt. Everyone else started laughing as Misty and I chased Pikachu back and forth.

We stopped for lunch at the foot of Mount Moon a little way from the river. Misty and I carried our rice balls to the water's edge with Pikachu and Azurill. We sat in silence for a while, eating our food and occasionally sharing a smile.

"Isn't the water beautiful, Ash?" Misty asked me, watching it flow lazily by, sparkling in the sunlight.

"Not as beautiful as a certain Water Pokemon trainer I know!" I replied teasingly. She scooted closer and I put my arm around her shoulders as she laid her head on mine. I'm not sure how long we sat like that, but I didn't want to leave. Ever!

"Hey Misty?" I asked softly

"Yes, Ash?" she replied sleepily

"What's going to happen later on?" I asked. I'd been worrying about this for a while now.

"What do you mean?" she asked me

"I mean when we're older." I replied "Are we gonna stay like this? Are we gonna fall apart? I've been worrying about that…"

"You know, I've thought about that too…" Misty told me, a far away look in her eyes. "Back then I was worrying that we wouldn't be like this at all, but I resolved to myself that if – or when – we got together, that it would be forever!" She gave me a hard, blazing look and I couldn't help kissing her again. My spirits raised and my cares postponed, I told her about my idea for 'losing' Gary and May in Mount Moon. She giggled and agreed that it was a good idea. Misty and I got up and went back to where the others were just finishing their lunch, and then we all packed up our things and started off for the looming mountain. As we walked, I quietly informed Brock of our plan to get Gary and May 'lost'. He agreed to go along and went to tell Max about it. I would have, but Max still wouldn't talk to me because of the trouble with May. When we reached the mountain, I took my flashlight from my bag in anticipation of the darkness.

"Everyone ready?" I asked, looking around at the group. Misty winked at me, and Brock and Max gave me a thumbs up. _Oh good, _I thought _Max is acknowledging me again._ Gary and May said

"Let's go!" at the same time. They glanced at each other and blushed, then looked quickly away. We started into the tunnel and I clicked my flashlight on as the darkness enveloped us.

As we approached the halfway point, I reached out and took Misty's hand, our prearranged signal. I turned to make sure Brock and Max had gotten the signal. They nodded at me and I flicked my flashlight a few times before turning it off.

"Uh-oh," I said, for Gary and May's benefit "I think it died."

"Let's keep going anyway." Brock suggested, "Max can just use his PokeNav to find the way."

"But the backlight burned out!" Max said "I wouldn't be able to see it." I could tell that it was his contribution to the set up.

"Let's just go!" I said impatiently "We can find our way."

"Okay." Misty agreed "Coming guys?" she asked the others. We headed off, still tightly gripping each others hands. I could hear the others start behind us. "It's so dark…" May whimpered.

"Don't worry May, we'll still make it." Gary told her confidently. We started off again, but stopped a few yards down the tunnel when I walked into a wall in front of me. "Ash! Are you okay?" Misty asked me anxiously. I felt my face gingerly

"Yeah, I think so." I told her. I leaned closer and whispered "It's time!" She squeezed my hand in acknowledgement. "Pikachu, let Brock and Max know." I whispered to the weight on my shoulder.

"Pika." (Okay.) He whispered back. He gave me a low-powered Thunderbolt, lighting me and a little bit of the tunnel, which was the signal for Brock and Max. I managed to get my finger pointed in the direction the rest of us should take, and Brock snapped his fingers in answer.

"What was that for?" I asked Pikachu in mock anger

"Pika-pi" (Sorry, Ash, I heard a weird noise.)

"That's okay, buddy." I told him "Let's go!" I whispered to him and Misty. They made noises of agreement and we took off down the right fork, while Gary and May took the left one. Ours was the way out, but the left one went deeper into the mountain. Operation Luvdisc was now in effect!

**Gary**

As May and I continued down the tunnel, I suddenly found that I couldn't hear Ash and the others. I called his name, but there was no answer.

"Where are they?" May asked me in a frightened voice. I began to have suspicions at this point.

"Don't worry, May." I told her reassuringly "They probably just took a different tunnel." _On purpose! _I thought to myself. _Thank you Ash!_

"Well, if you're sure…" she told me dubiously "I still can't see though… wait!" I heard her unclip a ball and she said "Combusken! Come on out!" there was a flash of light and I heard a Combusken cry out. "Okay Combusken, use Fire Spin and give us a little light!" It responded by breathing out a ball of fire that lit up the tunnel for a minute or so. This was just long enough for me to see the tree roots above May's head.

"Hey May, reach up and see if you can grab some of those roots to form a torch." I told her.

"Okay… hang on…" She said. I could hear the roots creaking as she grappled with them. "Here they come!" May told me. There was a clatter as some of the loose pebbles hit the rock floor. Suddenly I could see a small shaft of light! _Uh-oh _I thought _this can't be good!_ I hurriedly grabbed my only pokeball and yelled, "Blastoise! Use Hydro Pump on the ceiling!" A flash of light later I heard my old friend yell his name and the shaft of light became a lot bigger. I could see May in the light that was streaming down through the hole we had both created. She was covering her head in fear and trembling. I rushed over to her

"May, are you okay?" she looked up fearfully

"I think so… thanks to you and Blastoise." She gave me a tremulous smile and I grinned back. I turned to Blastoise and said,

"Come over here, pal and meet my new friend." He lumbered over and grinned at May

"Blastoise, blast!" (Nice to meet you, you're cute!) I sweat dropped and felt my cheeks become hot. Fortunately, May didn't understand what Blastoise had said.

"Hey Combusken, you come too and meet Gary and Blastoise." May told it. Combusken walked into the light to stand by his trainer.

"Combusken?" (What's up?)It asked, raising a wing in greeting. "These are some new friends, Gary Oak and his Blastoise." She told it, smiling. _She sure has a sexy smile _I thought to myself _I'll have to remember to thank Ash for 'ditching' us!_ I was brought back to reality by a hit on the shoulder from Blastoise

"Um, Gary?" May asked "Are you okay? You didn't get hit on the head by a rock or something did you?"

"Uh? Oh, no, I was just admiring the view." I'm sure Ash ditched us to help with my campaign, so I didn't want to waste the time with lame small talk. To my surprise, it she smiled weakly, and burst into tears again! Oh boy, this wasn't going well at all! "What's wrong May?" I asked tentatively.

"T-that's what Ash said to Misty the first time after he c-c-chose her!" she wailed. I walked over to her cautiously and she threw herself into my arms. I held her for a few minutes that seemed to contain an eternity. _I could get used to this!_ I thought _I hope she will return my feelings. _May looked up at me, and for a split second I was afraid I had spoken aloud. She sniffed, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand.

"I must seem like such a crybaby to you." She said, sniffing again "I mean, first at the gym, now this..."

"No, not at all!" I reassured her "I realize that it must have been hard to have been with Ash for so long and then have him reject you." May's lip trembled and she wiped her eyes again. "I just thought he would like me just enough more than Misty, because he's always been so kind to me... helping with my contest training and giving me the encouragement I needed."

"Yeah well, Ash can be a little thick-headed, even if he **is** a 'genius' now." I told her with a grin. She laughed and my heart did a somersault. May had a laugh like the sound of a Soothe Bell!

"You know..." I began "I might be able to help you with your contests, if you'd let me." She looked hopeful

"Oh would you!" She cried "That would be great! And it would take my mind off Ash for a while."

"Yeah, I could use some of my research to help you find the best attack combos for your Pokemon!" I told her, glad that we had gotten off the subject of Ash. I looked into her deep sapphire eyes and thought _Now I've just gotta convince her to start liking me!_ This time I really had spoken aloud

"What... did you say..." May asked slowly, a look of apprehension on her face. I felt my face burn with embarrassment. "Well, I know you're still trying to cope with the way Ash treated you..." I told her softly "But well... I've had a slight crush on you ever since the welcome back party in Pallet." May just stood there, waiting, although her expression had softened a bit. "I knew then that you liked Ash, but I kind of hoped that if he and Misty **did** get together, that I might have a chance with you." Now it was her turn to blush and she told me

"Well, it's a little soon, but maybe after I've recovered from... I'll think about it." She told me, smiling again. I felt my heart jump into my throat at this point. I had a chance! YES!

We stood there for a minute, still holding each other. But then Blastoise interrupted

"Blast-blastoise." (Break it up you two, we've still gotta get out of here.)

"What did he say?" May asked me

"He's just wondering how we're gonna get out of here." I told her. She pushed away from me (_dang it!) _and looked up at the hole we'd made. I stood for a minute wondering the same thing. Then I got an idea.

"Well, if you don't mind getting a little wet, we could just have Blastoise Hydro Pump us through it."

"Okay, but… how?" she asked

"We'll stand by his cannons and he'll use Hydro Pump." I explained "We'll be propelled up through the hole and land on the mountainside."

"Both of us at once?" she asked "Can Blastoise handle it?"

"Blastoise!" (Of course I can!) He replied, grinning again and lowering himself onto all fours.

"Okay then, Combusken! Return!" she said and it disappeared into its ball.

"Ready?" I asked May "Just stand in front of him and we'll be blasted up. The hole doesn't look big enough for both of us, so I'll go first."

"Alright." She replied. Moving in front of Blastoise I said

"Okay Blastoise, use Hydro Pump to lift me out!"

"Blast!" (You got it!) I felt a tremendous push on my back as I was lifted into the air and through the hole. I landed and rolled, coming to a stop about ten yards out. I ran back to the hole and called

"May, are you ready?"

"Yup, get me out of here!" She replied

"You heard her Blastoise!" I told him and he released another, softer jet of water that propelled May up towards me. I caught her as she came down and we fell to the ground laughing. "You could be a wide receiver!" she told me, giggling.

"No thanks!" I replied "I'd rather not get tackled by guys that weigh more than Blastoise does!" Speaking of…

"Toise! Blastoise!" (Hey! Now get me out!) He was yelling. May got off (_dang it again!) _and I went over to the hole,

"Calm down will ya?" I asked him "Return!"

"Blast!" (Well finally!) And he gratefully went back into his ball. I turned back to

May who was gazing down the mountain. I followed her gaze and saw the rivers of Cerulean city sparkling in the sun. "What a beautiful view!" May gushed. _Not as beautiful as what I'm looking at!_ I thought.

"I'll bet Ash and the others are waiting at the tunnel exit." I told her "We should get going."

"Yeah, Max will be worrying about me." She agreed "No one else will care though…" she trailed off

"That's because I'm already with you!" I told her, jokingly. She turned to me and I saw that she was grinning mischievously.

"You care for me?" she asked innocently. I sighed inwardly _She wants to play huh?_

"I thought I'd already told you that." I said in mock exasperation.

"I just wanted to be sure that I'm not dreaming." She explained

"If you aren't then I sure am, being alone with you and all…" I said, grinning. May giggled and hit me playfully on the shoulder. After she let go we started down a faded path towards Cerulean and the others.


	5. The Holiday formerly known as SAD

**The Holiday formerly known as Single's Awareness**

**Gary (still)**

As May and I trudged down the side of Mount Moon, I could distantly see the main road and the forms of four people. I pointed and said

"Look, May, there are the others." She looked to where I was pointing and began shouting

"Max! Up here!" The smallest of the four turned and began running towards us and waving.

"May, we finally found you!" Ash, Misty, Pikachu and Brock followed after Max. "Are you guys okay?" Ash asked pretending to be worried. May was hugging Max and had her back to me, so I gave the other three a wink and said

"Of course we are! She was with me, and I don't get lost, unlike some aspiring Pokemon Masters I know." Everyone began laughing, which gave Ash the chance to ask quietly

"Did it work?" I nodded and winked again.

"Perfectly" I told him also whispering "Thanks a lot, Ash." He returned my wink saying

"No problem, bud. That's what friends are for after all!"

**Ash**

After we had all said how glad we were to be a group again, we started towards the city. Finally arriving, we stopped at the Pokemon Center to have Nurse Joy check on our little friends. When we got the all okay from Joy, Max dragged Brock after us on our way to the gym. When we got to the gym, we found Misty's sisters in the battlefield/pool area. It took Max and Pikachu to stop Brock this time, but they managed it. Daisy, Lily and Violet greeted us with their usual empty-headed enthusiasm. _How **did** Misty get so smart with these three as sisters? _I asked myself.

"So Misty, what's been going on?" Daisy asked. Misty glanced at me, and steeled herself.

"This!" she said defiantly, taking my hand "Ash and I are together now, and nothing you guys say will change that!"

"Why would we?" Violet asked, puzzled "We've been waiting for you two to wise up and go out." The other two nodded sanctimoniously.

"What? But I thought you three would be pissed off." Misty said, puzzled.

"Why would we be?" Lily asked "I mean, he's placed high in all the tournaments and is about to start the Battle Frontier, and he's not a no-name rookie anymore." _Oh, so **now** they'll accept me, now that I've made a name for myself! _I seethed. I opened my mouth to retort, but Misty squeezed my hand hard. I looked at her and she jerked her head indicating that she wanted to go apart and talk. I grudgingly followed her to the other end of the pool.

"Ash, I know you're mad, but since my sisters are okay with it…" she broke off when she looked at me "Look, I know I said that I don't care what they think and I still don't; I just want to have a quiet visit home instead of constant war." She looked at me pleadingly. _That's not fair! _I thought _she knows I can't resist that face._ I sighed, and then I got an idea.

"Well, okay, but I'll need an incentive…" I replied, smirking.

"And what would that be?" she asked, playing along

"Oh, I'm sure you can think of something…" I told her

"Something like… this?" she asked, smiling and leaning in closer. I closed my eyes and puckered up in anticipation. Just before we connected, Misty stepped aside and, grabbing my shoulder, shoved me into the pool! I came up spluttering and, swimming back to the edge, glared at Misty who was doubled over laughing. I could hear the others laughing behind me. Misty came over to me and said, grinning

"Are you convinced yet?"

"Maybe if you help me out, I might be…" I told her.

"Nice try, bud" she said laughing "But I'm not gonna fall for that." She backed away from me. I heaved myself out and squeezed the water out of my hat.

"Well then," I sighed "I guess I'll just have to give you a hug then!" I charged at her. She squealed and ran, but I managed to catch her around the waist. Twirling her around I drew her into a tight hug, which succeeded in getting her fairly wet as well. She shoved away and went back to the others. I wobbled for a second and, unable to regain my balance, fell into the pool again.

After everyone had gotten settled into the various rooms and Misty and I had changed, we all gathered in the kitchen and had lunch. Daisy, Lily, and Violet had provided sandwiches and soda. We had a good time, joking, laughing and eating. The best part was when Max's root beer exploded in his face. He stomped back to the room he was sharing with Brock and the rest of us laughed even harder.

"Was that a coincidence, or did someone shake it up?" I asked, glancing around. No one replied until…

"Pika, pika!" (It was me, I confess!) came the voice of my little yellow friend. I turned to find him next to the fridge, slurping happily at a bottle of ketchup.

"I see…" I said, thoughtfully "You were trying to get to the ketchup and accidentally knocked the root beer to the floor."

"Pikachu, pika-pi!" (Good explanation, but I did it on purpose!) he replied and everyone burst out in laughter again. After we had all cleaned up we sat around in the living room talking and having a good time.

"I've got an idea, who wants to go swimming?" Misty asked everyone. Gary and I quickly raised our hands. I could tell we were thinking the same thing. _Alright! Misty (or in his case May) is gonna be in a swimsuit._

"I don't know," said May "Haven't you gone swimming enough today Ash?" Misty giggled and gave her a high-five. I glared at them, but gave in and started laughing too.

"Probably but now I won't be the only one in the pool, and I'll be in a swimsuit." I replied.

"You only want to now because I'll be in a swimsuit too." Misty said in mock accusation.

"You know it!" I told her laughing. She swung her mallet at me, but I managed to duck it and run. I was already changed into my dark blue trunks when Gary came in to get his swimsuit.

"That was pretty funny back there." He told me chuckling. I laughed and asked

"Is Misty still mad at me?"

"Nah, I don't think she was at all." He replied "She's just as anxious to see you in a swimsuit as you are her." I turned to him, feeling my face burn

"You think so?" I asked, "Well I wouldn't want to disappoint my girlfriend!" I yelled and charged out towards the pool.

"He never changes." I heard him say as I rounded the corner.

Arriving at the pool, I saw Pikachu, Azurill and Misty's Pokemon all playing together. Azurill and Pikachu were chasing each other around on Gyarados' back. I jumped in the water and swam over to them.

"Having fun guys?" I asked them

"Pikachu!" (Yup, we are!) He answered.

"Azu, azu!" (Uncle is lots of fun!) squeaked Azurill. I laughed and dove under the water again. After swimming for a few yards, I surfaced for air and found that Misty was standing on the side of the pool, watching me. When I saw her I was struck dumb. She was wearing a blue bikini and had her hair down. I sat there for a minute, gazing dumbfounded at her, absently treading water to stay afloat. She just stood there too, obviously giving me the once over as well, until Gary came in and said

"Hey lovebirds, break it up! I just ate!" Misty jumped and blushed, and I dove under the water, trying to hide mine. Just then May came in and Gary caught sight of her. She was borrowing Misty's black bikini and Gary stared at her the same way I had been at Misty. May was staring back at Gary, who was wearing black trunks with flame patterns on the side. Now it was **my **turn to break up the stare fest.

"What was that you said about having just eaten?" I yelled, throwing Gary's words back at him. Misty laughed and jumped in next to me, splashing me in the eyes, so I missed the other two's embarrassment. I swam after her, as she surfaced next to Gyarados.

"Did you see the way Gary was staring at May?" I asked her, chortling.

"Yeah, they really are cute together." She replied.

"Of course, I wouldn't have noticed if Gary hadn't said anything, cause I was too busy staring at you!" I told her

"Yes I noticed." She giggled

"Well, you are quite hot." I told her "You can't really blame me." She blushed again and dunked me under the water. I grabbed her leg and dragged her down with me. As we made eye contact underwater, I noticed that she was giving me the bold stare again, so I drew her in for an underwater hug. We surfaced together and she said

"You know, you're quite hot yourself. All that journeying has given you a nice set of muscles." I felt myself flush and replied

"Well, thanks, but I think you win in the nice body department." I looked up and down her and she blushed again.

"Stop that, or I'll have to make you!" Misty scolded me.

"Oh yeah?" I asked "How are you gonna do that?"

"Like this!" and she dunked me again. I tried to grab her leg again, but she moved out of my reach. I surfaced and swam after her yelling

"Get back here, Waterflower! I'll make you pay for that!" She stopped and turned around.

"Oh yeah?" she threw back at me "How are you gonna do that, Ketchum?"

"Like this!" I retorted, and grabbing her, kissed her fiercely. We made out for a few minutes until a large splash nearby informed us that Brock had arrived.

"Now, now, you two" he admonished "Remember what I told you!" I glared at him. Over his shoulder I could see Max attempting to get his sister's attention, but May was still staring at Gary. Gary was also dumbstruck, ignoring his Blastoise's attempts to get his attention. They gave up and Blastoise jumped into the pool, Max following. Suddenly I felt a sharp pain on my backside. I whipped around, accidentally splashing Misty and Brock, to find Corphish laughing and swimming away. I dove after him, determined to get him back. I caught up to him and began tickling him, but was interrupted by a shout behind me.

"Hello everyone!" shouted a smiling Naomi from the pool side.

"Naomi!" Brock yelled. I turned to see him motoring towards her. Misty, May, Gary and I all laughed and followed, albeit at a slower pace. When we got there, Brock was talking excitedly to Naomi, with the usual 'pretty girl' look on his face. Or was it? For some reason, I could sense that it went deeper than that. _Oh good, _I thought, smiling _it looks like Brock is going to finally get a woman._ After all his dramatics every time we met a pretty girl, it was gratifying to see the look that Naomi returned. Her expression mirrored Brock's almost exactly.

"It's good to see you again!" Brock was saying "You look great!" Naomi flushed slightly and replied

"Thanks Brock, it's good to see you again too." She glanced around "Hello, Ash and Misty."

"Hello, Naomi!" We responded together

"There seem to be some new faces here." She observed, looking at May, Max and Gary.

"Hi there, I'm May from Petalburg City, and this is my brother Max." May introduced

"And I'm Gary Oak, from Pallet Town." He told her. She turned to him  
"Oak? Are you related to the Professor?"

"Yup, he's my grandpa."

"Well it's nice to meet you three." Naomi told them. She turned back to where Misty and I were holding hands

"I see you finally got together." She told us grinning

"Yeah, it took us a while, but when I finally matured enough, I made the first move." I told her. Misty was giving me the look again and Naomi smiled at us.

"Brock kept telling me in his emails about how tired he was of all your 'stupid games'." We turned to Brock, glaring at him. He sweat-dropped and hastily changed the subject. "So what are we all doing tomorrow?"

"What? What's tomorrow?" I asked, puzzled. Misty hit me on the shoulder

"It's Valentine's Day remember!" she told me in exasperation.

"Oh yeah!" I replied, brightening up "We still need to plan out our doub- I mean triple date." May looked confused

"Triple date? Is one of Misty's sister's going?" She asked. Misty turned to Gary, who looked slightly uncomfortable

"Haven't you asked her yet?" She demanded. Gary's head drooped and he started to blush.

"No… not yet…" he mumbled, avoiding May's eyes

"Well get a move on!" Misty ordered

"Okay, okay" he sighed. He looked up at May "Will you… go out with me for Valentine's?" He asked her self-consciously. She flushed and sweat-dropped

"Y-yes, o-of course." She answered, blushing more furiously. Max turned away, gagging slightly, and leapt back into the pool.

"Now that that's taken care of, we need to plan it." I said "Any ideas guys?"

"First off, I'll go get Naomi settled and changed, then we'll meet you guys in the hot tub for a planning session." Misty said

"Sounds good, see you in a few minutes." I told her. She kissed my cheek and led Naomi off towards the bedrooms. The rest of us headed to the hot tub. Gary and May were both red still, but they were tentatively holding hands. The rest of us headed off to the hot tub to wait while Misty got Naomi settled in. We all lowered ourselves into the steaming water with a collective sigh. "Any ideas, guys?" I asked, leaning back and closing my eyes.

"How about dinner and a movie?" Gary suggested

"Dinner and a movie?" I asked skeptically "That's a cliche though!"

"Well then, what's your idea?" he asked defensively

"I read in the guide book that there's a dance at the contest hall tomorrow night." Brock interjected quickly.

"That sounds like a good idea!" May said enthusiastically

"We could have dinner at a nice restaurant I know, then head to the dance." Misty suggested from behind me. I opened my eyes and turned towards her, smiling. Brock turned with me and I saw his mouth fall open when he saw Naomi. She was wearing a blue and purple camouflage style bikini, and her long hair was in a ponytail. She smirked at the look on Brock's face and said to Misty and I

"I think he's been struck dumb!" We laughed and the sound seemed to snap Brock out of his trance.

"I was struck dumb by your beauty!" he declared with his usual extravagance.

"I'm flattered, Brock." she told him, smiling. He moved eagerly forward, arms outstretched.

"Not that flattered though..." she said. Brock sighed heavily and sat back down next to me. Naomi giggled and sat on his other side and they began to talk about everything that had happened since their last email.

"So what do you all think?" Misty asked "Should we do the dinner/dance thing?" We all murmured our agreement and she said "Okay, I think we should go to the mall in the morning so we girls can try to find dresses, and the guys can find some formal clothes too."

"How formal do we have to be?" I asked her anxiously

"At least a tie." she replied "It doesn't have to be a tux, but try to look nice."

"Okay..." I sighed. We all sat and talked about the next day's events for another half hour or so, then we all headed off for dinner. Dinner was spaghetti and garlic bread with a side salad. When we all finished eating, we said our good nights (Mine and Misty's was prolonged) and headed off to bed. As I entered the room I shared with Gary, I found him already laying on his bed, staring out the moonlit window.

"Hey Gary." I greeted him. He jumped and said

"Ash! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your deep thoughts." I retorted sarcastically.

"That's okay" He replied, ignoring my sarcasm "I was just thinking about... May..." he trailed of at the amused look I was giving him.

"Are you gonna ask her to be your girlfriend tomorrow?" I asked him

"I was thinking about it..." he answered slowly "Do you think she'll want to be?" he asked turning to me with a hopeless expression on his face. I felt a momentary surge of pity for him.

"Hey, if that's what you want, bud, then go for it!" I told him encouragingly. He grinned at me.

"Thanks, pal, you always know what to say to cheer me up." I waved his thanks away.

"It's no problem for my oldest friend." I told him. He smiled again and lay back down.

"How should I ask her?" Gary wondered out loud "Should I just confess and ask, and wait to see how she reacts?"

"If that's the way you want to do it, then go for it. I'm not gonna tell you how to go on with one of the most important decisions of your life." I replied seriously. Little did either of us know, the same kind of conversation was being held in the room down the hall.

**Misty**

"So May, do you think Gary will ask you to go steady?" I asked my new

friend who was getting ready for bed across the room from me. She jumped and I could tell my question had caught her off guard.

"I don't know." she replied nervously "Would he really do that?"

"Oh come on!" I exclaimed, "You two are as obvious as Ash and I were- are- and I'll bet he asks you tomorrow." May turned to me with a radiant expression

"You really think so Misty?" she asked, a little breathless "It would be so great if he did. I mean, sure I'm still kind of sore at Ash, but to think that Gary Oak would ask me out..." She broke off, sighing happily. I sighed too, but in exasperation.

"I'm almost certain that he and Ash are having the same discussion" I told her. Her eyes grew huge

"Really, I would love to be asked out, especially by Gary..." she broke off, gazing into space. I groaned inwardly, surely I hadn't been like this before Ash confessed! Had I?

**Back to Ash**

The next morning, we all got up and ready for the day before meeting for breakfast. Everyone seemed in high spirits, excited about that night. After breakfast, Gary, Brock and I followed Misty, May and Naomi into the entrance hall for our schedules.

"Okay then, is everybody ready to go?" Misty asked, taking charge as usual.

"Yup!" the rest of us answered. She nodded decisively and said

"Alright, the mall isn't that far away, so we'll head over on foot."

"Are we gonna split into guys and girls when we get there?" I asked

"Yes, we are." she replied "We'll split up until lunch, then meet in the food court and come back here after lunch."

"Okay, here we go!" I yelled, I went to rush out the door, but

"Hold on a minute!" Misty yelled, grabbing my arm "You are going to walk with the rest of us at a regular pace, and your going to be holding my hand the whole way."

"No arguments here!" I replied cheerfully, taking her and kissing it grandly.

"A girl could get used to this!" she observed to May and Naomi

"Don't" I warned her "It's just because of Valentine's Day and you know it!" she grinned at me

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Ash!" And so began our Valentine's day adventures. Arriving at the Cerulean Mall, we split into our designated groups and headed off to the various clothing stores in search of something to wear that night. We guys headed towards the fancier stores like Mr. Mac and American Eagle, while the girls were heading towards the Gap and Nordstrom. I picked out a light blue striped shirt and jeans, while Gary got a dark green polo shirt and black cargo pants at American Eagle. Brock rented a tux from Mr. Mac, despite what Misty had told us. It was black with a green and brown tie. Since it was only 10:30, we still had an hour and a half to kill before lunch. So we found gifts for the girls and then, naturally, we headed to the video game store. Gary and I had fun playing the different consoles on display while Brock browsed the shelves. Finally my watch alarm went off at 11:45 and we headed to the food court to meet the girls. After searching for a bit, we found them coming into the food court, laden with shopping bags.

"Did you get everything you need?" I asked them cheerfully

"Yup," Misty answered, hugging me "Did you guys get everything?"

"Yeah, it didn't take very long, so we picked up a little something for you three." Brock said

"Oh you got us presents!" May asked

"Well, Ash got one for Misty, Brock got one for Naomi, and I... got one for you..." Gary replied breaking off at the smile on May's face.

"Well we all got you guys something too!" she said happily "In the couples you just listed of course." Gary blushed a little at the thought of being called a couple with May. We all chose food from the various fast food places and had a good time eating and joking around. When we got back to the gym at around 1:30 and sat in the hot tub for an hour or so, (Misty was on my lap) and then the girls went to get ready.

"What, you need three and a half hours?" I asked

"Yup!" came the reply from all three of them. After an hour or two of swimming, Gary, Brock and I decided to go get ready too. We took turns showering and got dressed in our new outfits.

"You clean up pretty nicely, Ashy boy." Gary complemented me

"Thanks, you're lookin' pretty sharp too." I replied. We looked at Brock, who was pacing nervously

"Will you stop that!" I demanded "It's starting to bother me!"

"I'm sorry!" he exclaimed "I'm just so nervous!"

"Why?" Gary asked "She came all the way from the Whirl Islands to be with you today, what are you nervous about?" Brock stopped pacing and put his hand in his pocket. He brought out a small box and I gasped.

"Is that a what I think it is?" I asked him intently. He nodded, turning scarlet. "Alright Brock!" I cheered "Go for it bud!" He laughed nervously.

"I'm going to give it to her at the dance." he told me.

"Good luck, Brock." Gary told him.

"Well, we'd better get going if we don't want to be injured." I told them glancing at my watch. We trooped out through the door to the living room. We got there before the girls and turned on the TV to watch the forecast.

"Are you three down here?" Misty called.

"Yes!" we chorused. I heard murmuring and Naomi entered first, wearing a dark green dress with a gold shawl draped over her shoulders and her hair curled. Brock went pale, then red, then pale again.

"What do you think?" she asked him nervously

"I can't very well right now..." he managed. She giggled and hugged him, telling him how nice he looked in his tux. Next came May in a flowing crimson gown. Gary turned the color of her dress and stammered about how good she looked. She giggled too and hugged him. Finally came Misty, and it was my turn to be thunderstruck. She was wearing a shimmering silver dress with a light blue shawl and her hair was flowing down to her shoulders. We just stood there speechless, unable to formulate even a single thought. Misty regained her composure first and smiled at me

"Well, Ash, what do you think?" She asked me. I cleared my throat a few times, attempting to speak, but she just laughed and said "Don't hurt yourself. I'm glad you like it!"

"Like... it..." I croaked "I'm in love all over again!" Misty blushed and replied

"Thanks Ash... You look good too." I could feel my cheeks burning and said. "Shall we get going then?" Everyone agreed and I offered my arm to Misty as we headed for the door. She took it and my skin tingled at her touch. She was wearing a tantalizing perfume that made my mind go blank as I stared at her.

"Wake up you two!" Came Brock's voice. I started and realized that we had arrived at the car. We all piled in and drove towards the center of town.

Arriving at Outback, the other guys and I got out and helped our dates down from the car. We entered and were informed that it would be a five minute wait.

"That's okay." Misty told the hostess. We waited the required five minutes, talking excitedly about the dance afterwards. When we were finally seated, we ordered our food and drinks. I ordered the special, which is a steak, potatoes and side salad. Misty got the seafood alfredo. I wasn't really paying attention to what the others were eating, because I was still gawking at Misty. I could see Brock and Naomi holding hands across the table and talking quietly, having shut themselves in their own little world. Gary and May were discussing each others hobbies and qualities in detail...

**Gary**

"So May, what kind of music do you like?" I asked casually

"Well let's see..." she mused "I like to listen to show tunes, pop rock, and a little country..."

"Really? Which bands are your favorite?" I asked, probing for more info

"Well, I like some of the older bands, like Savage Garden, Creed, Linkin Park, and artists like Ashlee Simpson and some others."

"Cool." I replied. "I like Linkin Park too, they're good for when your angry or sad."

"What's your favorite song of theirs?" May asked

"I'd have to say either, 'By Myself' or 'Hit the Floor'." I replied. "You mentioned that you like show tunes, and I was wondering if you've heard the new one from Elton John and Tim Rice."

"You mean 'Aida'?" she asked excitedly "Of course! I love it!" We talked about that for a while and then moved on to books, movies, and those other sort of things. As it turned out, we have a lot of common interests, which would help me later on...

**Ash**

"Are you having a good time, Mist?" I asked my date. She smiled at me and said

"Anywhere you are is a good time." I blushed and replied

"I feel the same way..." I looked into her eyes "I've already told you this a few times, but... I love you, Misty." She blushed to and told me

"And I've replied this way as many times, but... I love you too, Ash." We shared a passionate kiss and then turned back to our meals. All in all, we had a fun dinner. Little did I know that there were some shocking surprises in store for me and my friends.

We were about to pay for the food, when the waiter told us that our meal was already paid for.

"What? By who?" Misty asked

"It says, courtesy of Cerulean Gym." he told us, shrugging. Misty turned to us

"That's the nicest thing my sisters have ever done!" she exclaimed "I'll have to remember to thank them later."

"Yeah." I agreed "They really are nice, even if they can be shallow." She hit me playfully.

"Aw come on, now you have more money to spend on me!" I grinned and took her hand.

"We've still got half an hour until the dance, and I need to pick up your present I ordered." I told her.

"Great, let's go!" So we stopped at the mall on the way and Gary and I ran in to get the presents we had ordered from the jewelers. After paying for the items and running back to the car, I cried

"On to the dance!" and Brock revved the engine and peeled out of the parking lot. When we got to the Contest Hall, I helped Misty out and Gary and Brock helped their dates. I offered Misty my arm again and she took it grinning.

"I never knew you were such a gentleman, Ash."

"One of the few things you don't know about me!" I replied winking

"Oh really?" Misty asked, intrigued "What else don't I know about you?" I smirked and said

"That's one of the things you'll have to wait to find out." she smacked me on the shoulder and we went into the main hall. It was decorated with red, white, and pink streamers, with clumps of balloons placed at intervals. The DJ was set up on the stage and there were already a few couples here and there, talking and dancing. There was a table along the back wall with drinks and snacks. Both side walls had chairs where people could sit and rest, I headed towards the food, but was restrained by Misty.

"You just ate!" she scolded me.

"I just wanted to see what they have." I complained. Then, spotting the look on her face said

"But that can wait, shall we dance?" I asked her

"I thought you'd never ask!" she giggled and our little group split up as each couple moved to different parts of the floor. Misty and I danced for a while, despite the speed of the songs. After a few songs, she went to get us some punch, while I went to the DJ and requested a song. Brock was already there, requesting one as well. I saw that Gary had requested one too.

"Good luck!" I told him as he turned and started walking back to where Naomi was sitting.

"You too!" he told me. I hesitated; I hadn't told anyone about my plan! Shrugging, I wrote my request and went to meet Misty again. We sat together and drank our punch, while a few fairly upbeat songs played. Then I heard Brock's request begin. "Come on, Misty! We've gotta find Brock!"

"What? Why?" She asked me. I quickly explained the box and she said,

"Let's find them then!" we searched the now fairly large crowd of people until we spotted the familiar spiky brown hair. I pulled Misty after me, and we got there just in time to see Brock take Naomi's hand and kneel down.

**Brock**

When I heard the song come on, I pulled Naomi back onto the dance floor. "_I knew I loved you, before I met you. I think I dreamed you into life..." _ I looked into her eyes and said

"Naomi, this is the song I requested, because I think it fits." She gazed at me and replied

"I know exactly what you mean, Brock. I've felt this way about you for quite a while now." I took her hand and sank to one knee. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ash and Misty appear. _Good, they're here! _I thought. I put my hand into my pocket and drew out the little black box I had shown Ash earlier. I heard Naomi gasp and looked up at her. "As the song says, Naomi, I knew I loved you and that love has only grown." she began crying

"Naomi, will you marry me?" I asked. She gasped as I opened the box to reveal a large diamond ring.

"Y-y-y..." she stammered. I sweated while she stuttered "YES!" she shouted, pulling me up and into a tight embrace. It took a moment for the answer to sink in and then I hugged her back. We kissed for the first time and my emotions were in chaos. I couldn't think or breath. When we broke apart, we were both crying with happiness.

**Ash**

Misty and I stood there as Brock and Naomi embraced again.

"See?" I told Misty "**That's **why I wanted to hurry and find them." She was also crying silently

"That's so beautiful..." she wailed, running over to our two friends. "Congratulations you two!" Misty and I said together. The newly engaged couple turned to us.

"Thanks you guys." They told us. Misty gushed over how pretty the ring was while I shook Brock's hand.

"Way to go, bud, I'm happy for you!" I told him, trying to fight back my own tears.

"Thanks, Ash." he said again "And thanks for being a good friend and giving me encouragement." We embraced briefly and I told him

"More like brothers, right?" he smiled and nodded. Then I heard the song that Gary had requested come on.

"Now we've got to find Gary and May!" I told the others they nodded and we searched for a couple seconds before Brock spotted them. We rushed over in time to see Gary pull a long box out of his pocket.

**Gary**

I heard my request begin and drew closer to May. _"No one could ever love you like I could... So if you'd be the one to share my dreams I'd never let you go..._" I gazed into May's bright blue eyes and asked

"Have you heard this song before?"

"I think so... isn't it Marc Anthony?" she asked

"Yes, and I requested for us." I told her. She looked at me, hope appearing in her eyes.

"I requested this song, to help me make a request of you!" I told her. I grabbed the box in my pocket and handed it to her. She opened it with a gasp. Inside was a silver necklace with matching earrings. There was a heart pendant on the necklace. "The pendant is engraved, that's what took so long." I explained. She examined the heart more closely and gasped again, tears appearing in her eyes.

"I love you, May." I told her, echoing the writing on the pendant. "And I would be honored if you'd consent to be my girlfriend." she started sobbing harder and nodded before throwing herself into my arms again. "I-I l-l-love you too, Gary." she told me, through her sobs. "I never thought I'd love anyone after what Ash... but you convinced me otherwise." We kissed for the first time and then retreated to the corner of the hall, away from everyone else.

**Ash**

After Gary and May had retreated into the corner, Brock and Naomi decided to take a moonlight stroll, leaving Misty and I alone again. Almost as if on cue, the song I had requested began. _"Look into my eyes... you will see... what you mean to me" _Misty squealed and pulled me back to the dance floor.

"It's our song!" she said happily

"Yes I know, I requested it after all." I told her. In the background the song had reached the chorus. _"You know it's true, everything I do... I do it for you." _I gazed into Misty's beautiful eyes and said.

"If I could sing well at all, this is the song I would sing for you." Her face glowed as she replied

"I've already sang to you and you heard it so you know that I love you as well." I imitated Brock by taking her hand and dropping to one knee. She gasped and tears began forming even before I took my little box out of my pocket. I opened to reveal a golden ring with three sapphires on top. Engraved on the inside of the band were the words _"Misty, I love you forever, Ash."_ I explained that the three sapphires represented our past, present and future. "This is to let you know that, if you will have me, I want to spend my future with you." I concluded.

"Of course I will!" she exclaimed "I already told you I want you forever."

"Yes, but this makes it official." I told her, getting back to my feet. Her eyes flowing with tears of joy, she threw herself at me and we shared a passionate kiss. When we broke apart, we continued dancing to our song, Misty's head on my shoulder. I rested my head on top of her's and told her the words I had only said a few times before.

"I love you Misty Waterflower, now and forever!"


	6. Seven Years Later

**Seven years later...**

It's about five years later, and Christmas is approaching, a little too quickly for me, but I guess that's just me. Everyone was arriving for our annual Christmas party and it was at my place this year. Yup, after I defeated all the Frontier Brains and went on to win every tournament I entered, I was the world's greatest Pokemon master. So now I'm twenty and a half years old and I've got my own apartment in Viridian City. My mom was here with Professor Oak to help me decorate and to do the cooking. Since that's one thing I could never quite get the hang of. I was kind of nervous to see everyone again, since Misty and I had been fighting a lot lately. I had been preoccupied by trying to dodge the crowds of fangirls that formed everywhere I went, and she was stressed out by her Gym Leader responsibilities and her air-head sisters, who, I'm sorry to say, she still hadn't managed to marry off. No self repecting trainer would take them, and they wouldn't take anyone but trainers so... I'm sure you can see the problem.

Needless to say, we had both been under one form of stress or another and hadn't had much time for each other. I planned to change all that however, with the little brown box I had in my dresser upstairs. It was right next to the handkerchief she had given me all those years ago as well as a photo album filled with pictures of us and our friends. Maybe I should fill you in more. Let's start with my Pokemon. Charizard had come back after living in the Charisific Valley was no longer challenging enough. Squirtle had resigned his leadership of the squad and returned, evolving almost as soon as he came back, then Wartortle evolved after my second Hoenn tournament. I got Glalie back as well as Phanpy, who had evolved about four years ago. Last but not least was my buddy Pikachu who I wouldn't make evolve even if he wanted to. I had changed over the years too. My height had increased to an even six feet, and I had attempted a goatee, which was immediately shouted down by Misty, Mom, and Pikachu. So I had to get rid of it, but oh well, I didn't really like it either to tell the truth.

"Ash honey, the others are going to be here soon!" came my Mom's voice from downstairs.

"Okay Mom," I yelled down "Be right there!" I hurriedly checked myself in the mirror one more time, grabbed the little brown box, and ran downstairs in time to answer the door. I opened it to reveal my oldest human friend and his wife and kids.

"Brock! Naomi!, come on in!" I said. I squatted down and asked "And how are my two favorite little trainers?"

"Uncle Ash!" squealed Keb, the four year old boy and Tarah the two year old girl. I swept them up and spun them around a few times, all three of us laughing. I set them down again as Pikachu came running in to play too.

"How've you two been?" I asked Brock and Naomi.

"Just excellent!" Brock exclaimed "The Breeding Center has really taken off, and Naomi has been a real help with the Water Pokemon section."

"It's a lot of fun to take care of the little Pokemon." Naomi agreed "I think my favorites to play with are the Lotads and Woopers."

"I'll bet." I chuckled, leading them into the dining room, which had a sprig of mistletoe hanging above the door. They took advantage of it to kiss for a while, and I took advantage of the doorbell ringing again to escape.

"Gary, May! How are you two?" I asked my other closest friends. They had gotten married about six months ago and May was already beginning to show. "Any ideas what it is?" I asked them.

"We just found out this morning that it's going to be a girl!" May said, hugging me and then heading off to the dining room. Gary and I shook hands and I asked "So how's the Gym Leader business?" He had taken over for May's dad Norman at the Petalburg gym. And was one of the foremost Pokemon Professors in the world.

"It's... exciting..." he replied dryly "I have to battle at least five times a day though." I shook my head in sympathy and said

"I don't think I'd be able to handle it."

"Well, most of it is your fault," he said in mock accusation "All these young, hot-headed trainers dreaming of being a Pokemon master, just like the 'great' Ash Ketchum." I laughed and led him to the dining room, where Naomi was gushing about how great it May looked and other things about the baby.

"Have you decided on a name yet?" she asked May,

"No, not really..." May replied "We're going to make a list after Christmas and pick one."

"Thank goodness." Gary said from behind her "I don't think I can handle one more 'name session' for a while." May playfully smacked him on the shoulder and asked

"I wonder how Max is doing at the gym."

"Did you leave him in charge?" I asked

"Yup, and he's a really good trainer too." May said proudly "He even had his Ralts evolve the other day. Now it's a Kirlia." Just then my Mom came in and began exclaiming about May's condition too. She asked about the name thing and when May shook her head suggested

"How about Jaya? It means 'Goddess'." May became excited

"I like it!" she turned to Gary "What do you think, sweetie?" Gary looked thoughtful for a minute, then nodded.

"It has a nice sound. And besides, any daughter of ours would almost have to be a 'goddess'." I choked back a laugh and handed around glasses of cider. The doorbell rang again and I all but bolted to the door to answer it.

"I'll bet I know who that is, since Ash is so excited." Brock chuckled. I opened the door and was happy to see that Misty had finally arrived. "Hi, Mist-" I began, but stopped short when I saw her more fully. She had grown out her hair to about waist length and she was wearing a black dress that had a fairly low front and clearly defined her curves. I felt my mouth go dry and my face began burning. She was also not talking, apparently at the sight of me in a tux. I had dressed up as much as I could for her, and she had obviously gone out of her way to look as pretty as possible for me. Which is saying something!

"Well, Ash are you going to let her in, or just stand there gaping?" Prof. Oak chuckled from behind me. I was jerked back to reality and stepped aside to let Misty in. She gave a soft laugh and hugged me tight. I returned her hug and told her

"It's good to see you again." She laughed again and replied

"Yeah, since it's been **so** long since our date last Saturday."

"Well you know how I get when I haven't seen you for a while." I told her, grinning impishly. She giggled and kissed me on the cheek,

"Well, I'll see what I can do to help you recover from your depression."

"Just having you here tonight makes me feel better." I replied, leading her by the hand to the dining room, where she immediately joined the other three women gushing about May's baby. I went into the kitchen and poured two glasses of cider for Misty and I, then went back in and handed Misty's to her.

"Thanks, Ash" she said, taking a long drink "I didn't have time to eat much today, because of all the challengers. I even lost to one kid, who is actually pretty good." She smirked at me "He reminded me of the first time I ever faced a challenger as gym leader." I grinned back, also remembering our first battle. A bell began to ring and my mom came in

"Dinner's ready!" she announced. The smell of roast beef and potatoes was making my mouth drool as I rushed to my seat and said

"FOOD!" Everyone else laughed and Brock said

"That's one thing that will never change!" He pulled out Naomi's seat for her and, after she had gotten settled, sat next to her. Gary held May's chair and she kissed him on the cheek in thanks. I jumped from my chair as Misty approached and held hers out for her.

"And that's one thing that has!" She exclaimed to Brock. He grinned at me and I thought _She wants to fight huh?_ Just as she was bending to sit, I pulled her chair a little farther away. Unfortunately she heard the chair scrape as I pulled it farther back, and my attempt at payback was foiled. She slowly straightened up and turned to face me, grinning wickedly. I gulped and began backing away, but I wasn't fast enough. WHACK! I received a mallet to the head.

"And that's another thing that will never change…" I groaned, feeling the lump on my head. "Is that a new mallet?" I asked Misty "It hurts more than usual." She grinned again and replied

"Yup, Daisy gave it to me just before I left. She said it was 'just in case'."

"And here I thought Daisy was the nice sister…" I said, in mock sadness. Misty couldn't help giggling as she sat down. I sat next to her as Professor Oak came over from getting the kids settled at a smaller table.

"Pikachu seems to be enjoying himself." The Professor observed. Misty and I glanced over at the kids and Pikachu. My little yellow friend was happily slurping down a bottle of ketchup, while sitting on Tarah's lap. I couldn't help smiling at the touching scene, and Misty's eyes matched her name. There was a ring of utensil on glass, and we turned to see my mom on her feet.

"I propose a toast. Here's to the greatest Pokemon Master in the world!" She said, smiling at me. Everyone echoed her toast and drank from their glasses. I could feel my face burn, but also felt unaccountably grateful to the people I had considered my family for so long. I stood and said

"I propose a toast to the best friends a guy could have, as well as the most awesome mom, and hottest Gym Leader in the universe." I winked at Misty as I said the last part, making her turn scarlet.

"Isn't he though?" May teased, gazing fondly at her husband. Everyone else burst out laughing as I stood there spluttering, and then joined in the hilarity. I sat down, my face burning like Charizard's tail, and received a pity hug from Misty. We all toasted each other for another ten minutes, and then finally got to the feasting.

After we had all stuffed ourselves to the point of bursting, we settled the kids and Pokemon in the den with a movie and went back to the living room where my Christmas tree was standing, waiting to be decorated. I lit a fire in the fireplace and turned on the CD player.

"Where are the decorations?" Naomi asked me.

"They're in the garage, I'll go get them." I replied, heading down the hallway. Gary and Brock caught up to me as I opened the door to the garage.

"Hey Ash, are you ever gonna propose to Misty?" Brock asked me. I turned to my two friends, grinning. I reached into my pocket and drew out the little brown box. I held it up so they could see it clearly and replied

"Yup, tonight!" Brock looked relieved, and Gary said

"It's about time, Ashy-boy! We were all starting to worry about you." I laughed and put the box back in my pocket. We entered the garage and the other two both gasped. It seemed they found my car impressive.

"Wow Ash, I didn't know you drove a Spyder!" Brock said in an impressed voice. I grinned at him and affectionately patted my navy blue transportation.

"There are a few other perks to this Pokemon Master business." I replied. Gary snorted

"Yeah, yeah, let's just grab the decorations."

**Meanwhile, in the living room… (Misty)**

I watched Brock and Gary follow Ash to his garage, and then sat down next to May. She glanced at me and asked

"Do you think Ash is ever going propose?" I cracked my knuckles and replied

"He'd better! I'm ready to do it myself, or else break it off for good!" Deliah smiled at me.

"I'm sure Ash just wants to be sure of his and your feelings."

"Since when did he start planning things out?" I asked

"After the Battle Frontier" May replied "How else did you think he won all those other tournaments?" I thought about that for a minute before responding

"Well, I guess I'll just have to wait and see." Just then the guys came back in, each carrying a box of decorations.

**Back to Ash**

Gary, Brock and I returned to the living room and the women, who broke off their discussions quickly. I glanced at Misty, who was staring into the fire and, setting my box down next to the tree went to sit next to her.

"Are you okay?" I asked softly. She started and looked around at me.

"Huh? Oh, sorry Ash, I was just thinking." She replied with a small smile.

"Penny for your thoughts?" I asked, grinning. She smacked me on the shoulder

"My thoughts are at least a buck!" she retorted playfully. I laughed and draped my arm around her shoulder. She snuggled closer to me and we sat there for what seemed an eternity, just enjoying each other's company. Ten minutes later, Misty was asleep with her head on my chest, and I was half-dozing, half listening to the radio and quiet conversation of the others. Pikachu came into the room to report that the movie downstairs was over, and that the kids and other Pokemon were asleep.

"Thanks buddy." I told him, yawning.

"Pikachu, pi." (So when are you gonna ask her?) he asked me, glancing at the sleeping Misty. She stirred at the sound of his voice and sleepily asked

"Who is asking what?" I was startled that she was awake, but quickly recovered.

"I was just gonna see if you were thirsty." I invented. She smiled and replied

"Yeah, I kind of am." I gently extracted myself from our embrace and said,

"I think there's some more cider in the fridge." She smiled, her hair a little mussed from sleeping. It glowed orange in the firelight and I couldn't help stopping in the doorway to stare at her some more. She was just so beautiful! I could see a faint blush begin to climb her cheeks and she asked

"What's so interesting?"

"You of course" I replied "I was just enjoying the view." She giggled and came over to me. Misty pointed wordlessly at the ceiling and I looked up to find that we were under the mistletoe.

"Would you look at that" I said casually "We seem to be under the-" I was cut off as she drew closer and we kissed for about the thousandth time. I've found that it gets better every time! My mind whirling from the taste of her lips and lack of air, I dimly heard our song coming out of the speakers.

"Do you remember that Valentine's day seven years ago?" I asked Misty as we began to dance, still under the mistletoe. She smiled and said

"How could I forget?" We danced for a minute or so, lost in our reminiscing and listening to the music. _"You can't tell me, it's not worth fighting for… I can't help it, there's nothing I want more…"_ I glanced at her hand and saw the ring I had given her so long ago reflecting the firelight. As the song ended, I finally decided that the time had come.

"Misty, I want you to know how much I appreciate your always being there for me." I faltered as she looked up at me with love and a faint tinge of hope. "You mean so much to me, and that other ring is getting old so…" I trailed off, simultaneously kneeling and reaching into my pocket. Misty began crying, apparently guessing what I was about to say. I pulled the little brown box from my pocket and, flipping it open told her

"I think you need a new ring. I've loved you for over a decade now, and always will. And according to Brock, it's about time I did this." I took a deep breath and asked "Misty, will you marry me?" She began sobbing harder than ever and threw herself into my arms, managing one word before her emotions overwhelmed her again

"Yes!" I hugged her fiercely and we shared another kiss, the most passionate one yet.

When we broke apart, Misty slipped the new ring on, right on top of the old one. I had contemplated for a very long time what kind of ring would best fit Misty's beauty and decided on a fairly simple ring that was white gold with a (in my opinion) large diamond on top. We heard sobbing and clapping and turned to find my mom, Professor Oak, and our friends beaming at us. My mom was the first one over.

"Welcome to the family, Misty Ketchum" Misty glowed as she turned to me

"Misty Ketchum… I like the sound of that!" she said, squeezing my hand.

"So do I." I told her, grinning again. The women all started gushing about making plans as I regained my composure. Brock and Gary came over and we all went to the kitchen so I could get a drink.

"Well done, Ash" Brock told me, clapping me on the back.

"It took you long enough, Ashy-boy." Gary observed. I turned to them, grinning like an idiot. Pikachu came in and jumped onto my shoulder

"Pi, pikachu." (Way to go Ash, you finally did it.)

"Thanks, buddy" I replied, scratching him between the ears. "We'd better get back before they've planned the whole thing without us." We all trooped back to the living room and the women. They were still in full flow about the wedding plans. I walked over to Misty, who took possession of my hand again. We all sat down again, and continued talking until late into the night. When we had all gotten so sleepy we could hardly stand, my Mom and Professor Oak helped Brock and Naomi get the kids to their car.

"We'll be back for New Year's Eve." Brock told me. I yawned and said

"I'll be looking forward to it." I yawned again and shook his hand. Naomi hugged Misty, then me and the others. We all waved as they pulled out of parking lot in their minivan. Gary and May left soon after, assuring us that they'd be there for the wedding in February. They pulled out and my Mom and Professor Oak went soon after, congratulating Misty and I again before they left. I turned to Misty

"Are you gonna leave me too?" I asked in mock sadness. She yawned and said teasingly

"Only if you want me too…" in response, I drew her in for a long hug.

"I never want you to leave me again." I whispered. We headed back up the stairs towards my apartment, my arm wrapped around my fiancée.

When we got back to my apartment, I carried Misty up to the guest room and, after kissing her good night, shut her door behind me and went to my room. I entered to find Pikachu curled up on my pillow. I smiled and gently lifted him off to the side. He opened one eye

"Pika?" (You're sleeping in here?) He asked. I blushed

"Watch what you're insinuating!" I reprimanded. He squeaked a laugh and went back to sleep. I absently threw my tux into a corner and pulled on my pajama bottoms, my mind still in a daze from the evening's events. I lay on my back, staring out the window at the half moon, and multiple stars, thinking of my orange haired goddess as I drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, I woke at about nine and groggily made my way to the bathroom. Pushing open the door, I was greeted by a shriek of surprise and found myself being forcefully shoved out, but not before catching a glimpse of Misty, who was wearing only a towel.

"Don't you ever knock?" Misty asked me, her voice muffled by the door.

"I don't usually need to." I replied, feeling a mixture of embarrassment and offense "I **do** live alone, you know." I could hear the rustle of clothes and she opened the door. She was wearing a long, green nightgown and her hair was done up in a towel. Her face was pink, but she had a slight grin too.

"I'll have to see what I can do about that!" she told me, coming over and hugging me. I smiled too and held her close, inhaling her flowery perfume.

"Did I surprise you when I proposed?" I asked

"Kind of" she murmured "I was starting to wonder if you were going to propose at all, actually." I gave her a peck on the cheek.

"I just wanted to be sure of my life, and us, before taking such a big step." I explained.

"Your mom told me it was something like that." She replied, smiling up at me. We stood there, locked together, for about fifteen minutes staring into each others eyes. Then we heard a small cough, and looked around to find Pikachu watching us with a small smile on his face.

"Pika, pi-chu?" (I'm happy for you two and all, but could you make sure you're alone first?)

"We were alone, before you decided to wake up." I pointed out. Misty giggled and broke away to head for her room. I entered the bathroom and showered quickly. As I left the bathroom, wearing a towel, I ran into Misty heading downstairs. She had changed and was wearing jeans and a violet shirt with a Starmie on the front. She stopped in mid-stride and gave me a long look, grinning slightly.

"Like what you see?" I asked, jokingly

"You know it, honey!" she exclaimed, I grinned and went back to my room. I put on my jeans and a navy blue t-shirt, then my new forest green vest. Pikachu jumped onto my shoulder and I ruffled his ears playfully. We headed down to the kitchen and I found Misty rummaging through the fridge. I made a shushing gesture to Pikachu, who nodded, grinning. I crept over and pinched Misty's rear end, making her jump. Pikachu and I began laughing uproariously. I paid for my moment of fun with a mallet to the head.

"Don't sneak up on me!" Misty yelled, a faint blush creeping up her face. I stopped laughing and said

"Aw don't be like that, I was just playin'. Besides, you know you liked it." Her face became stony. I went over to hug her, and received an ice cube down my back for my kindness. I yelped and squirmed, trying to make the ice drop out the bottom of my shirt. Misty was doubled over laughing, but managed to gasp

"That's what you get! I may have secretly enjoyed it, but you can wait until after the wedding." I chuckled and responded

"Ha! I knew you liked it!" We started laughing together, but were interrupted by a Thunderbolt.

"Pika-pi!" (Stop it and feed me!) Misty and I both lunged at him, but he Quick Attacked away. I finally caught him and shut him in the freezer for a minute. When I opened it again, he was shivering.

"Have you cooled off yet?" I asked him. He glared at me and Thunderbolted me again. I twitched on the floor for about a minute while Pikachu and Misty both laughed. When I finally recovered, we all ate breakfast together, and Misty left to go back to the Gym to tell her sisters the good news.


	7. Wedding Time!

**The Happiest Day of Ash's Life**

It's been a month and a half since the Christmas party, and I'm starting to get nervous, because my wedding is only two days away. I'm back in Pallet Town, since Misty wanted the wedding site to have a view of the ocean. I lay on my bed, contemplating the gigantic life-changing event that was about to descend on me. It would happen on the fourteenth of February, even if weddings on Valentine's are cliché. I was pulled from my musings by a knock on my door.

"Mime! Mr. Mime!" (Ash! You've got visitors!) I sighed and stood up.

"Thanks, Mr. Mime, I'll be right there." I left Pikachu snoozing on my pillow and went out to the hall, then down to the stairs. When I got there, I found Misty and Daisy standing in the entryway with three others. To my surprise Tracy was there, apparently with Daisy, and the others looked familiar too. Misty and I said each other's names at the same time, flew into each other's arms and shared a kiss. Tracey made a gagging noise, and the other guy laughed. Daisy giggled

"Welcome to my Mom's humble home." I greeted them after breaking slightly away from Misty. I winked at Tracey, who had finally gotten Daisy after chasing her for about three years. I turned to the other two and realized that I knew the woman "Flannery?" She grinned at me and said

"It's good to see you again Ash, I haven't seen you since you beat me for the Heat Badge." I glanced at the man next to her, "My husband says he knows you too." I turned and stared at him a minute longer, then it struck me

"Harrison!". Harrison grinned wider and said

"Well it took you long enough, Ash!" I laughed and shook his hand

"How've you been?" I asked him "What have you been up to?"

"Actually, I'm a member of the Hoenn Elite Four." He told me, smiling at his wife.

"That's awesome!" I exclaimed "Is that how you two met?"

"Yup!" he grinned "We met after I won at the Indigo Plateau six years ago…"

"And the rest is history!" Flannery said laughing and squeezing Harrison's hand.

"She inspired me to go even further and so here I am, the most powerful of the Elite Four." Flannery giggled

"Oh stop!" she told him "You know I get embarrassed when you say it that way."

"Am I supposed to lie?" Harrison asked her. She giggled harder and blushed. Misty, Daisy, Tracey and I all laughed and I asked

"When did you get married?"

"About six months ago." Harrison replied "It took me a while to work up the courage to ask her." Misty smiled and said

"I guess all you 'great' trainers have that problem, since it took Ash even longer to ask me." Flannery and Daisy exchanged a knowing look

"It's because they're men!" the two of them chorused, causing all the women to bust out laughing.

"If you three are done laughing at our failings…" I said, a little crossly. It took them a while to regain their composure, then we all went into the kitchen for a snack.

Afterwards, we all headed up to Professor Oak's lab, where we would meet Gary and May. Arriving at the lab, I was immediately swarmed under by Bayleef and my herd of Tauros. Everyone laughed while Bayleef helped me up with Vine Whip.

"Thanks, Bayleef." I told her,

"Bay!" (No problem!) she replied. I dusted off the front of my shirt while Misty brushed off the back. I could hear Harrison laughing and turned to glare at him. He saw me looking and said defensively

"Well it was funny. You should have seen your face when they started charging at you."

"You think it's funny do you?" I asked slyly "Tauros! Use Take Down on Harrison!" the Tauros turned around and began charging at him. He yelled and took off; dropping his bag, with the Tauros right behind him. The rest of us stood around laughing until Flannery took pity on her husband and put the Tauros to sleep with his Hypno. Harrison trudged back over to us and kissed Flannery in thanks, then collapsed on his butt in the dirt, panting.

"I'll… get… you… Ash!" He gasped.

"If you can catch me." I smirked "It seems like your cozy Elite Four living has taken off your edge." Misty smacked my arm playfully

"Looks who's talking mister Pokemon Master. You could stand to exercise more!" I looked down at myself, then at her,

"Oh yeah? Well you need to swim more, cause your starting to bulge a bit too!" It was a lie of course, she looked skinny as always. She whipped out her mallet and swung at me, but I moved towards her quickly, grabbing her arm and kissing her to stop the swing. When we broke apart, she giggled

"That's not fair!"

"And where did you get the idea that I would play fair?" I asked innocently. She and the others just laughed helplessly as we started towards the lab.

As we entered the lab, there was shriek and May came running out of the den, with Gary hot on her heels.

"Come back here, you!" he said, laughing.

"Catch me if you can!" She teased him, disappearing up the stairs to the computer room. Gary was about to follow her, but caught sight of us and stopped, a sheepish grin on his face.

"She seems quite energetic for being seven months along." Misty observed. Gary started blushing

"She's been feeling… playful… for a few weeks now." He said.

"And you seem to be playing along quite willingly." I teased him. He hit my shoulder, but grinned all the same. We shook hands, and everyone else greeted him too. He looked at Flannery and Harrison for a minute, and just as I was about to introduce them to him, he remembered Harrison himself. Then he remembered that Flannery and her grandfather had helped him with his research on fire pokemon in the Hoenn region. We all were talking when May came back down the stairs.

"Gary! What's taking you so lon-" she cut off when she saw everyone, then rushed down the stairs to embrace Misty. They, Daisy and Flannery all started gushing about the wedding later that day. I nudged Gary and nodded towards the den. He caught on and Tracey and Harrison followed us into the den, leaving the women in full flow about decorations and dresses.

We sat down, and Pikachu jumped into my lap, having just caught up after playing with all his old friends for a while.

"Well pal, how's everyone doing?" I asked him, stroking his ears.

"Pika, pi." (Everyone's fine.) He replied.

"That's good." I said smiling

"So Ash, are you nervous?" Brock asked me. I thought about that for a minute and replied

"Not really. I was for a few weeks, but I'm absolutely convinced that Misty and I are soulmates, so I'm really just excited to start our eternal relationship." Pikachu squeaked in agreement, and I heard sniffing from the corner.

"That's so beautiful." A familiar high pitched voice said. The four of us turned to find James standing in the doorway with Jessie and Meowth. I got up to greet them. "How are you guys doing? I saw you on TV the other day."

"We're rolling in dough now!" Jessie said excitedly "Our detective agency is really taking off!"

"Don't you mean blasting off?" I asked, smirking

"Don't mention that phrase!" Meowth said, shuddering "We got enough of that when we were tryin' to steal Pikachu."

"Pika, pikachu." (Emphasis on trying.) Pikachu told him, and he laughed.

"It's a good thing we never could, or else Team Rocket would have been taken down by yous guys instead of us and the police."

"Congratulations on getting rid of them." Brock said "How does it feel to be the good guys?"

"It feels great!" James exclaimed.

"The other women are going over the plans if you'd like to join them, Jessie." I told her. She shuddered and replied

"No thanks, I'd prefer to hang out here with the you guys." James laughed and said

"Besides, she's already been through enough weddings this year." I gave him a puzzled look. In response, he grabbed Jessie's hand and I caught a sparkle on her middle finger.

"Pika!" (I knew it!) he exclaimed, and Brock and I congratulated him on finally getting her to marry him. They had been in love for a long time, but Jessie was reluctant to commit. It appeared that she had finally given in. Gary and Harrison were still sitting down, obviously mistrustful after what Jessie and James had done while members of Team Rocket. Finally Gary said

"You were the ones who got rid of your former organization?"

"Yup!" Meowth said proudly "The boss was sure surprised when we marched into his office with a group of officers and told him he was under arrest."

"Butch and Cassidy tried to resist." Jessie said, smirking "Butch got his arm burned off by a Growlithe, and Cassidy is crippled for life from a Poison Tail courtesy of my dear Seviper."

"And Professor Nanba was killed when he tried to run. Lance was there and his Dragonite gave Nanba a Hyper Beam in the back." James added, also grinning. I felt a momentary pity for the morons, and then brushed it aside.

"How are your pokemon doing?" I asked them. James' smile grew larger.

"Check this out!" he grabbed a pokeball and said "Come on out, my friend!" There was a flash of light and then. "Cacturne!" A large scarecrow-cactus hybrid leapt at James and hugged him.

"So your Cacnea evolved?" Brock asked, always the breeder.

"Yep, she evolved when we were storming TR headquarters. She's a big part of the reason they are gone now." He said with pride. Pikachu jumped off my shoulder and stretched his paw towards Cacturne. Cacturne looked at him for a minute, and then shook his paw. "Looks like those two are gonna be friends now." Harrison observed, smiling.

"Good, now we've all forgiven each other and become friends." I told him, smiling at the former Rockets.

"If this gets any more cloying, I'm gonna barf." Gary said from behind me.

**The Wedding**

It was the morning of Valentine's Day, and (despite what I had told Brock two days ago) I was extremely nervous. I woke at five in the morning, and although my fate wouldn't be sealed for another five hours, I began pacing my room. Pikachu stirred from his little bed in the corner.

"Pikachu, pika?" (What's wrong, are you nervous?) He asked sleepily.

"Yes." I replied "I mean, I love Misty, but I guess I just can't stand the tension." I grinned at him and said

"Now I know how you feel if you build up too much electricity." He grunted and, shifting his position, fell back asleep. I lay back down and tried to sleep again, but sleep just wouldn't come. So I pulled on some jeans and a blue shirt, and quietly slipped out of the house. I walked down to the beach, and stood there, watching the waves gently lap at the sand. The moon was full, and the stars were out in force. I sat down on a small patch of grass, watching the shimmering water and thinking of the soon to be Mrs. Ketchum. Suddenly, I spotted a speck of light in the water that wasn't being caused by the moon or stars. At first I thought it was a school of Chinchou or something, but then…

Ash… I jumped to my feet, wondering who had said my name, and then I heard it again. Ash, the Chosen One… I stared at the speck, which was growing steadily larger. I knew that voice!

"Lugia?" I asked tentatively.

Yes, it is I. Came the reply, and he burst out of the ocean, and flew over to stand beside me.

"It's been a long time, Lugia." I said, shaking his wing.

Indeed it has, Ash. he said I have heard that you are getting married today. 

"Yes, but who told you?" I asked, curious

Ho-oh did. You do know that she's been watching you don't you? I nodded slowly

"I did wonder why she kept guiding me. First was when I barely started out on my journey, then again before I headed to Hoenn."

It's because you're the Chosen One. Lugia told me The day of her final return is at hand, and it's all thanks to you. I stared at him

"Ho-oh is coming back? So the hearts of people and pokemon are as one now?" I asked, remembering the legend I had heard from Morty and his friend Eucine.

Yes, because of your example, other trainers are starting to realize that pokemon should be friends and family, not just tools. Of course, the downfall of Team Rocket was a major factor. I smiled and said

"Naturally. They were a blight to trainers everywhere, until former operatives from their own ranks helped to rid us of them."

Those three who helped us calm Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres? Lugia asked

"That's them. Jessie, James and Meowth." I nodded.

Good, so Slowking did what he was supposed to. Lugia smiled He planted doubt in their minds, and they allowed it to grow. Now they are heroes as they were supposed to be. Lugia and I sat there talking for a few more hours. He told me how to get everything ready for Ho-oh's arrival.

"So that's everything, huh?" I asked my legendary friend. "If you and the other Legendaries would like, you can come to the wedding at ten." Lugia smiled again.

I'll see who I can get. I'm sure Mew and Celebi will want to come for the party. 

"Okay! See you later then!" I told him, waving as he dived back into the ocean. I walked back to the house just as the sun began to rise.

As I entered my room, I got an electric scolding.

"Pikachu, pika!" (Where have you been, I've looked all over for you!) I slowly rose to my feet again, and told him about my conversation with Lugia. He listened, wide-eyed, and agreed that we needed to do all we could to prepare for Ho-oh's coming. So we hurried to shower and eat breakfast, so we could tell Professor Oak and the others.

"Ash, what's the hurry?" my mom asked me. I was about to tell her, but decided to keep it to myself for the time being. "I'm just going to see how the preparations are going." I told her quickly

"Okay, dear, have fun!" she said, waving as I ran out the door with Pikachu on my shoulder. As I ran up the road, I made a mental list of who to tell about Ho-oh. _Professor Oak and Gary would definitely want to know, and Brock would be interested too. Tracey would probably want to know and I know Max will. I think I'll let Ho-oh surprise everyone else though._ Just as I rounded the gatepost up to the lab, I heard my name being called. I turned around and saw Meowth coming up behind me.

"What's up, Meowth?" I asked him.

"I wanna help yous get ready for Ho-oh." He said, stopping in front of me.

"How do you know about that?" I asked, surprised that he knew already.

"I heard yous and Lugia talkin' this mornin'." He replied "Meowth's are nocturnal you know." I nodded, and told him

"Okay, let's go tell the guys, then we can focus on the wedding and Ho-oh's arrival." I grinned at him "Just don't try to steal Ho-oh." He laughed and led the way up the concrete stairs in front of the lab.

Upon entering the lab, I found the four people I intended to inform in a group upstairs, gawping over some new discovery. Who I didn't expect was Professor Birch. Gary turned at the sound of my footsteps and said

"Hey, Ashy boy, are you nervous?"

"Yes." I admitted ruefully "My insides feel like an Ekans nest." Everyone else began congratulating me and giving me advice. When they finally quieted down, I said "I've got some important news I think you should all hear."

"What is it?" Brock asked, noticing my unusually serious expression. I then proceeded to tell them what Lugia had told me. The two professors, Tracey, Max and Gary all looked apprehensive and excited at the same time. Brock, however; looked thoughtful

"It seems right. You being the chosen one, and today being the most important day of your life, it's only fitting that it's also the most important day for the rest of the world." I stared at him, I hadn't thought of it that way, but it did make sense in a weird sort of way. Then the women started arriving and we all got the wedding stuff ready. The gazebo was set up on the grass in front of the beach. There were chairs in two groups, split down the middle by a wide aisle. There were trees nearby, so that some of the pokemon could sit in them, as well as a few benches underneath for the others. Brock's Ludicolo and my Heracross were settling an organ in the gazebo, and Crobat, Swellow, and Charizard were hanging streamers from the tree limbs and gazebo rooftop. At eight thirty May, who was overseeing the flower arrangements with our Bulbasaurs and Sceptile, yelled

"Okay everyone! It's time to go get ready!" We all split to our various places of living in order to get dressed up. I hadn't seen Misty yet. It was undoubtedly because of the old tradition that the groom isn't supposed to see the bride before the wedding on the day of.

When I got back to my mom's house, I found that Mr. Mime had laid my tux out on my bed, freshly cleaned and pressed.

"Thanks, Mr. Mime!" I yelled down the stairs

"Mime!" (No problem!) He yelled back as he helped my mom prepare the lunch for afterwards. I showered again and got into my tux. Pikachu also got into his tux that he still had from the movie fiasco.

"Lookin' good, buddy." I told him, winking

"Pika, pi." (Thanks, you too.) He replied. I straightened my bowtie for the thousandth time and attempted to smooth down my hair. Then I glanced at the clock and noticed that it said 9:50. I hurried downstairs and found my Mom and Professor Oak waiting for me. We got in the professors car and drove back to the site of my doom. When we got there, almost everyone was already there. All my friends were sitting with their families, and there were some other friends there as well. Some of the Gym Leaders I had made friends with over the years were there with their families too. I could see Morrison and Tyson talking together. Macey was holding Morrison's hand, and Tyson was with Jasmine. I caught a glimpse of spiky red hair, and saw Lance talking to Steven Stone. I waited in a clearing with Brock, Gary, and Max, my best men. I could hear laughter from the other side of the trees and knew that Misty and her bridesmaids (May, Daisy, and my Mom) were in the other clearing. Naomi began playing the wedding march, and I led the other three up to the altar, where Professor Oak waited. I had been shocked to discover that he was also a retired judge. I mounted the steps up to the altar and grinned nervously at Professor Oak, who returned my smile.

"Try to be calm." He whispered, noticing my shaking hands.

"I'm trying, Professor." I replied. Just then, Naomi reached the chorus and Misty was preceded by Tarah, who was the flower girl. I could only see Misty though.

She was stunning in long white gown that shone in the morning sun. She had a silver tiara with a large sapphire in the center on her head that had a veil attached. It was a thin veil, and I could still tell that she was glowing with happiness. The train of her dress lightly brushed the ground behind her. May, Daisy, and my Mom were wearing dresses of light blue, and I caught Gary's face as he stared at May. I couldn't help smiling a little as he went pale, then red, then pale again. It was like watching car blinker. Back behind the humans I could see all my Pokemon friends in the trees and on the benches. I caught a flash of pink, and saw that Mew was there, sitting next to Swellow. Celebi was on Mew's other side, and Jirachi was on the branch above them. I looked at the tree next to them and noticed Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres perched in it. As Misty stopped next to me, I heard her gasp and turned to see Lugia and Mewtwo on the beach watching us. In the shadows to the side, I noticed Suicune, Entei, and Raikou sitting next to Groudon. I heard a splash and saw Kyogre surface next to Lugia and Mewtwo who had just been joined by Deoxys as well. Professor Oak began the ceremony, and after what seemed like forever, got to the questioning.

"Do you, Ash Ketchum, take Misty Waterflower to be your lawfully wedded wife? Do you swear to love and keep her for richer or for poorer, through sickness and through health…" As Prof. Oak droned on, a bright multi-colored light began shining above the trees, just as Lugia had said it would.

"I do!" I answered with ringing force. Prof. Oak turned to Misty and repeated the questions. She also answered in the affirmative to every question. As the Prof reached the "Speak now or forever hold your peace…" The light became blinding. Professor Oak paused, then remembered that he was supposed to finish the ceremony first, like I told him earlier.

"I now declare you Man and Wife. You may kiss the bride." I slowly lifted the veil from Misty's face and we shared our most passionate kiss yet. As if on cue, a burst of rose colored flame announced the arrival of the most legendary pokemon and her friend Rayquaza. Misty and everyone else whom I hadn't informed gasped and Misty asked "Ash… is that…"

"Ho-oh?" I finished for her "Yes, when we were sealed for eternity, so were people and Pokemon everywhere." Misty gaped at Ho-oh, who had landed in the aisle as Rayquaza hovered next to her. I took Misty's hand and we bowed to Ho-oh. She gazed at us for a moment then spoke

"Ash and Misty Ketchum! In fulfillment of the prophecy, you have both helped the people and pokemon of the world to be of one heart. Thus I return to live with you again. Please, accept my blessing on your union. May you and your descendants live in peace and prosperity!"

"Thank you, Ho-oh." I responded "We are greatly honored that you would consider us reason to return."

"Yes." Misty echoed "And we gratefully accept your blessing." Everyone bowed to Ho-oh and she nodded at us all in acknowledgement. Then Rayquaza cut in.

"Now it's time to party!" Everyone laughed and Max ran to the sound system to start the music.

Nine and a half hours later, everyone had danced themselves to exhaustion, and eaten more than was really good for them. There was one last dance, everyone with their respective partners. It was kind of funny to watch Ho-oh and Rayquaza dancing, but even legendaries need a break once in a while. All the humans and regular Pokemon had gone to bed, but Misty and I lingered to speak with the legendaries. Mewtwo came and congratulated us, as did the three elemental birds and the dogs, then they all left. Mew, Celebi and Jirachi had already left, having partied harder than anyone. We said good-bye to everyone but Ho-oh, Lugia and Rayquaza. Rayquaza was finishing off the leftover steak, and Lugia and Ho-oh were standing next to Misty and I.

I wish to add my blessing to that of Ho-oh. Lugia told us I'd also like to drop by now and then, if that's okay. 

"You're always welcome, you and all the legendary Pokemon." I replied with a smile

"Yeah, it would be an honor if we could call you 'friend'." Misty told him

It's a deal! I'll be seeing you two! Don't stay up too late! he responded, flying away. I felt my face burn at his last statement, and could see Misty blushing too. Ho-oh chuckled

"That Lugia, always the joker." She looked at us again "I would also like to stop by every once in a while, if you'll have me."

"You'll always be welcome!" Misty and I chorused.

"Thanks." She replied "C'mon Rayquaza, we still have to talk to the other Elite Four members on the other continents." Rayquaza drained a water jug and burped.

"Okay, let's go then!" then to Misty and I he said "Good fortune be yours, and I'll be seeing you!"

"Okay, see ya!" Misty and I told he and Ho-oh as they flew off into the night. Misty turned to me.

"Well Ash, you heard Lugia, let's not stay up too late."

"Okay, let's go then!" I said, excitement building in me. I had waited for this night for years! We walked hand in hand to my car, and drove to our apartment. I carried her over the threshold and up to our room. Pikachu had decided to stay at the lab to give us some privacy. I shut the door behind us and began my life as a married man.

**The End**

Well, friends, that's it for this one. If I get enough reviews I might do another story or a sequel or both! Hope you liked my story! Please review!

Dragonlord Daoka

Update 4/6/07: Well that's the whole story, fixed and improved! Thanks to all those who've already reviewed!


	8. Chapter 8

Authors note:

Well, it's been one year, since I finished my first fic. I decided to celebrate by updating and getting it back to the top! Although looking back from a year in the future, I can't believe how sappy some of it is! Enjoy!

Also, expect the next chapter for "Christmas in Celadon" soon!

D.D.


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